[2] The two sides had met on many occasions, including the 1966 World Cup final at Wembley Stadium, in which England had beaten West Germany 4–2 after extra time.

Four years later, in the quarter-final of the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, England failed to hold on to a 2–0 lead, losing 3–2 after extra time.

England had beaten Germany in June 2000, during the Euro 2000 competition, with a 1–0 win at the Stade du Pays de Charleroi in Belgium.

Germany had lost just one of their previous sixty qualification games, for the 1986 World Cup, and had been unbeaten at the Munich Olympic stadium since 1973.

The German Football Association were so confident that Germany would finish at the top of the qualifying table that they had arranged friendlies on the dates of the play-offs.

[7] England named four strikers in their squad, with Robbie Fowler and Andy Cole having started the recent friendly with the Netherlands.

Sven-Göran Eriksson recalled the in-form Michael Owen and his strike partner Emile Heskey in an attacking line-up for the match in Munich.

Both teams then had chances during the rest of the first half, notably Sebastian Deisler for Germany; Seaman and Kahn both made some good saves.

Rio Ferdinand headed it back to Steven Gerrard, who shot the ball into the bottom-left corner of the goal from 25 yards out, putting England 2–1 up.

Ferdinand won the ball in defence and gave it to Paul Scholes, who progressed up the pitch through a one-two passing move with Beckham.

Neither team managed to win their final group game, with a last minute Beckham free kick earning England a 2–2 draw with Greece.