East Germany won the match 1–0, in what is regarded as one of the greatest upsets in FIFA World Cup history.

[1] The match is also notable for being the only time East and West Germany ever played each other in top-level senior international competition.

[2] According to journalist Ulrich Hesse, West German players knew that their manager Helmut Schön, who had been born in Dresden in East Germany, "wanted – no, needed – to win this match at all costs".

[1] The communist East German government viewed the match as a class struggle and politically significant, according to author Thomas Blees.

[10] East German striker Hans-Jürgen Kreische met West German politician Hans Apel on a flight immediately after the game, and the two men made an informal bet – Kreische correctly predicted the West would win the trophy and Apel sent him some whisky, unaware of the difficulties this would cause.

Kreische later found he had been excluded from the subsequent national squad for the 1976 Olympic Games due to the Stasi being aware of his correspondence with Apel, which was forbidden by the East German authorities.