Germany
have won the World Cup on three occasions, with their most recent success coming in 1990, and only Brazil and Italy have won the competition more times.
For
most of their World Cup history they have been split in to two countries, East
and West Germany, with the West side of the country achieving all three
successes.
In
the same year as their most recent World Cup triumph, the county became
reunified, but since then their best finish was runners-up to Brazil in 2002,
where they were beaten 2-0.
Germany
have achieved the feat of runners-up on four occasions and will be hoping to
avoid being bridesmaids in this years contest.
Their
World Cup record is perhaps the strongest of all teams, having played the most
matches (99) and scored the most goals (222) in FIFA World Cup finals.
Germany’s
first World Cup win came in 1954, where they surprised many to lift the trophy
in Switzerland, beating Hungary 3-2 in the final, after being 2-0 down.
German
captain, Franz Beckenbauer, led the host nation to their second World Cup
success 20 years later. West Germany defeated European neighbours, Netherlands
2-1 in the final, once again coming from behind to lift the trophy.
In
2006, Germany hosted the World Cup once more, but were defeated 2-0 by Italy in
the semi-finals. The match had been goalless for nearly 120 minutes, before two
goals in as many minutes from Fabio Grosso and Alessandro Del Piero defeated
them on home soil.
The
most recent World Cup in South Africa saw them crash out in the semi-finals to
eventual winners, Spain, becoming the first World Cup final not to feature at
least one of Argentina, Brazil, Germany or Italy.
Despite
their general success in the World Cup, the last time they won a major
tournament was in Euro 1996 in England, after defeating Czech Republic 2-1 in
the final in extra time.
With a number of experienced players, representing teams in the most competitive club competitions, many people will expect Germany to be one of the best teams in the 2014 World Cup.
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