The team was governed by the Deutscher Fußball-Verband, and was a part of the UEFA confederation.
East Germany's first international fixture was in 1952 against Poland, ending in a 3–0 loss.
The team's final fixture was a 2–0 victory against Belgium in 1990, which was initially scheduled to be a qualifying match for the 1992 European Championship before the reunification was announced.
The GDR played a total of 293 matches between 1952 and 1990,[2] facing 52 different countries.
The team which the GDR faced on the most occasions was Poland, the two sides playing each other 19 times.