At the end of the 2014 World Cup, Germany earned the second highest Elo rating of any national football team in history, with 2,223 points.

All five matches ended in large defeats for the Germany teams, including a 12–0 loss at White Hart Lane in September 1901.

[7] A follow-up to the earlier series between England Amateurs and Germany occurred in March 1909 at Oxford's White House Ground[22] and resulted in Germany's largest official defeat to date: 9–0 (this time, the match was recognised and recorded as official by the DFB but not by the FA, again due to the amateur side being fielded).

[33][34] After Austria became part of Germany in the Anschluss of March 1938, the Austrian national team – one of Europe's best sides at the time due to professionalism – was disbanded despite having already qualified for the 1938 World Cup.

At the 1938 World Cup in France, this "united" Germany national team managed only a 1–1 draw against Switzerland and then lost the replay 2–4 in front of a hostile crowd in Paris.

That early exit stands as Germany's worst World Cup result, and one of just three occasions the team failed to progress from the group stage – the next would not occur until the 2018 tournament, and it would be repeated in 2022.

Many of the national team players were gathered together under coach Herberger as Rote Jäger through the efforts of a sympathetic air force officer trying to protect the footballers from the most dangerous wartime service.

In 1952 the Deutscher Fußball-Verband der DDR (DFV) was established and the East Germany national football team took to the field.

When playing favourites Hungary in the group stage, West Germany lost 3–8, and faced the Hungarian "Mighty Magyars" again in the final.

This match with five goals in extra time is one of the most dramatic in World Cup history, and is called the "Game of the Century" in both Italy and Germany.

In 1971, Franz Beckenbauer became captain of the national team, and he led West Germany to victory at the European Championship at Euro 1972, defeating the Soviet Union 3–0 in the final.

West Germany's first tournament under Derwall was successful, as they earned their second European title at Euro 1980 after defeating Belgium 2–1 in the final.

[50] West Germany started the 1982 World Cup with a 1–2 upset by newcomers Algeria in their first match,[51] but advanced to the second round with a controversial 1–0 win over Austria.

[55] After West Germany were eliminated in the first round of Euro 1984, Franz Beckenbauer returned to the national team to replace Derwall as manager.

[56] At the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, West Germany finished as runners-up for the second consecutive tournament after beating France 2–0 in the semi-finals, but losing to the Diego Maradona-led Argentina in the final, 2–3.

[62] Captained by Lothar Matthäus, they defeated Yugoslavia (4–1), UAE (5–1), the Netherlands (2–1), Czechoslovakia (1–0), and England (1–1, 4–3 on penalty kicks) on the way to a final rematch against Argentina in Rome.

[72] However, in the 1998 World Cup, Germany were eliminated in the quarterfinals in a 0–3 defeat to Croatia, all goals being scored after defender Christian Wörns received a straight red card.

[74] In Euro 2000, the team went out in the first round, drawing with Romania, then suffering a 1–0 defeat to England and were routed 3–0 by Portugal (which fielded their backup players, having already advanced).

The team advanced through group play, and in the knockout stages they produced three consecutive 1–0 wins against Paraguay,[77] the United States,[78] and co-hosts South Korea.

[82] Germany once again exited in the first round at Euro 2004, drawing their first two matches and losing the third to the Czech Republic (who had fielded a second-string team).

[100] In the quarter-finals, Germany defeated Argentina 4–0,[101] and Miroslav Klose tied German Gerd Müller's record of 14 World Cup goals.

Troubles during qualifying for the 2016 European Championship continued, drawing at home, as well as losing away, to Ireland; the team also only narrowly defeated Scotland on two occasions, but handily won the return against Poland and both games against Gibraltar (who competed for the first time).

[118] For security reasons, the team spent the night inside the stadium, accompanied by the French squad who stayed behind in an act of comradery.

[126] Germany defeated Sweden 2–1 in their second game via an injury-time winner from Toni Kroos, but were subsequently eliminated following a 2–0 loss to South Korea, their first exit in the first round since 1938 and first in the group stage since the format had been reintroduced in 1950.

With this result Germany became the fifth defending champions to be eliminated in the group stages of the World Cup, following Brazil in 1966, France in 2002, Italy in 2010, and Spain in 2014.

[140] After several poor performances following Germany's World Cup exit – including a 4–1 home loss to Japan – Flick was dismissed on 10 September 2023.

[142] After a rocky end to 2023, only winning one out of four games, Germany found itself back in form in the new year with a second victory against France and the Netherlands, strengthening hopes for a successful UEFA Euro 2024 campaign.

A change from black to red came in 2005 on the request of Jürgen Klinsmann,[151] but Germany played every game at the 2006 World Cup in its home white colours.

[165] Win Draw Loss Fixture The following players were called up for 2024–25 UEFA Nations League matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Hungary on 16 and 19 November 2024, respectively.

Champions    Runners-up    Third place     Tournament played fully or partially on home soil Germany has won the FIFA World Cup four times, behind only Brazil's five.