germany easily qualified in their qualifying group against azerbaijan, finland, liechtenstein, russia and wales. in the tournament, germany advanced through the group stage after winning two games and loosing one against serbia. germany then went on to dominate the round of 16 and quarter-finals after defeating england 4–1 and thrashing argentina 4–0. in the semi-finals, germany lost to spain 1–0. germany then beat uruguay 3–2 to become the third place medal winners. thomas müller won the golden boot and the best young player award. germany also scored the most than any other team in the tournament, with 16 goals.