Football World Cup 2018 / Germany

Football World Cup 2018 : Germany
Trainer	Joachim Löw
captain	Manuel Neuer
Qualified as	Winner Europe Group C
World rankings before the tournament	1
Tournament result	Out in the preliminary round
Games won	1
Games lost	2
Gates	2: 4

This article covers the German national football team at the 2018 World Cup . The selection team of the German Football Association (DFB) took part in the finals for the nineteenth time and as defending champions for the fourth time. Unlike after winning titles in 1954 , 1974 and 1990 , Germany, like all other teams with the exception of the host, also had to qualify for the World Cup. This was achieved for the first time with ten wins in ten games and 43: 4 goals. After six qualifying games, Germany also won the Confed Cup in Russia, which was the dress rehearsal for the World Cup organizers . For the first time, Germany was eliminated in the group stage, just like the reigning world champions Italy (1950), Brazil (1966), France (2002), Italy (2010) and Spain (2014) and thus fell from first place in the FIFA world rankings in 15th place.

qualification

The team qualified for the World Cup in Russia through the qualifying matches of the European football association UEFA .

Games

Germany met in the Group C of Northern Ireland , Czech Republic , Norway , Azerbaijan and San Marino . In the ten encounters that resulted, the German team had ten wins that they had not previously achieved in a World Cup qualification. Only in the qualifications for the World Championships in 1982 , 1962 , 1938 and 1934 did Germany not lose points, but only had to play eight, four, three or one game. In qualifying for the Euro 2012 , Germany had already won ten out of ten games.

With 43: 4 goals Germany had the best goal difference and the gap to group runners-up Northern Ireland was with 11 points the largest of all qualifying groups. Only Belgium achieved the same goal rate of 4.3 goals per game, but conceded two more goals. Overall, only a few teams in Asia scored more goals, but they played 18 games.

Overall, national coach Joachim Löw used 37 players, whereas only 23 players were used for the qualification for the previous World Cup and thus, like Belgium, the fewest players of all qualified teams. Only Joshua Kimmich was used in all ten games and did not miss a minute. Thomas Müller made nine appearances, and Mats Hummels , Julian Draxler and Jonas Hector made eight appearances each , and could not be used in the last two games due to injury. Also due to an injury, goalkeeper Manuel Neuer , who four years earlier still played full distance in all games, this time only made three appearances in the first three games. The most frequently used goalkeeper was Marc-André ter Stegen , who made five appearances. The goal was guarded twice by Bernd Leno . Benjamin Henrichs and Serge Gnabry played their first international match on November 11, 2016, and Diego Demme on June 10, 2017 against San Marino in a qualifying match .

The best goal scorers were Thomas Müller and Sandro Wagner , who each scored five goals. Müller scored his goals in the first five and Wagner in the last five games, in which he was only used three times. A total of 21 players contributed at least one goal, plus an own goal by a San Marino player. No other qualified team had more different goalscorers, with Mexico occupying second place with 16 goalscorers. And in terms of the number of players used, the German team is ahead: only in the German team did more than half of the players who were used score (56.8%).

date	Venue	host		guest	Result	Goal scorers for Germany
04th Sep 2016	Oslo	Norway	-	Germany	0: 3 (0: 2)	Müller (2), Kimmich
0Oct 8, 2016	Hamburg	Germany	-	Czech Republic	3: 0 (1: 0)	Müller (2), Kroos
Oct 11, 2016	Hanover	Germany	-	Northern Ireland	2: 0 (2: 0)	Draxler, Khedira
Nov 11, 2016	Serravalle	San Marino	-	Germany	0: 8 (0: 3)	Gnabry (3), Hector (2), Khedira, Volland, own goal San Marino
26th Mar 2017	Baku	Azerbaijan	-	Germany	1: 4 (1: 3)	Schürrle (2), Müller, Gómez
June 10, 2017	Nuremberg	Germany	-	San Marino	7: 0 (4: 0)	Wagner (3), Draxler, Mustafi, Brandt, Younes
0Sep 1 2017	Prague	Czech Republic	-	Germany	1: 2 (0: 1)	Werner, Hummels
04th Sep 2017	Stuttgart	Germany	-	Norway	6: 0 (4: 0)	Werner (2), Draxler, Goretzka, Gómez, Özil
0Oct. 5, 2017	Belfast	Northern Ireland	-	Germany	1: 3 (0: 2)	Kimmich, Rudy, Wagner
0Oct 8, 2017	Kaiserslautern	Germany	-	Azerbaijan	5: 1 (1: 1)	Goretzka (2), Can, Rüdiger, Wagner

Closing table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Germany	10	10	0	0	043: 400	+39	30th
2.	Northern Ireland	10	6th	1	3	017: 600	+11	19th
3.	Czech Republic	10	4th	3	3	017:100	+7	15th
4th	Norway	10	4th	1	5	017:160	+1	13
5.	Azerbaijan	10	3	1	6th	010:190	−9	10
6th	San Marino	10	0	0	10	002:510	−49	00

preparation

Even before the qualification was certain, the first dates for test games were set in November 2017 and March 2018, whereby an agreement could only be made with the opponents of the November games when they had also qualified directly and did not have to go through the playoffs of the runners-up . On December 15, the game against Austria in June was announced as a further test match. Another game should then take place in Germany (opponent was Saudi Arabia). The actual preparations for the World Cup began on May 23 with the training camp in Eppan , South Tyrol . Special training sessions with the U20 national team took place between May 27 and 31 . On June 12th, the team flew from Frankfurt am Main to Moscow and moved into their World Cup quarters in Watutinki .

Games

date	Result	opponent	venue	Goal scorers for Germany
November 10, 2017	0-0	England	London
November 14, 2017	2: 2	France	Cologne	Timo Werner (56th), Lars Stindl (90th + 3)
23 March 2018	1: 1	Spain	Dusseldorf	Thomas Müller (35.)
March 27, 2018	0: 1	Brazil	Berlin
2nd June 2018	1: 2	Austria	Klagenfurt	Mesut Özil (11.)
June 8, 2018	2: 1	Saudi Arabia	Leverkusen	Timo Werner (8th), Omar Hawsawi (43rd / own goal)

Note: Teams in italics are not qualified for the World Cup.

Quarter

The team quarters were the "Watutinki Hotel Spa Complex" ( Russian: Гостиничный Комплекс Ватутинки Gostinichny Complex Watutinki ) in Moscow - Watutinki ( Novomoskowski administrative district ), where the team was able to train in the nearby training center of CSKA Moscow .

Squad

The table names the players who were in the squad for the 2018 World Cup . It was unveiled at a press conference on June 4th and featured 23 players. Bernd Leno (goal), Jonathan Tah , Leroy Sané and Nils Petersen were deleted from the provisional squad . Nine players from the successful 2014 World Cup squad were there. 13 players took part in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup , including two players (Julian Draxler and Matthias Ginter) who were on both squads.

position	No.	Surname	society	birth date	input rates	Gates	debut	Last use						World Cup participation	World Cup games (before 2018)	World Cup goals (before 2018)
goal	1	Manuel Neuer	FC Bayern Munich M	03/27/1986	076	00	2009	06/08/2018	3					2010, 2014	13	0
	22nd	Marc-André ter Stegen *	FC Barcelona D.	04/30/1992	020th	00	2012	06/08/2018
	12	Kevin Trapp (*)	Paris Saint-Germain D.	07/08/1990	003	00	2017	03/27/2018
Defense	17th	Jerome Boateng	FC Bayern Munich M	09/03/1988	071	01	2009	06/08/2018	2		1	1		2010, 2014	12	0
	4th	Matthias Ginter *	Borussia Monchengladbach	01/19/1994	018th	00	2014	06/08/2018						2014	0	0
	3	Jonas Hector *	1. FC Cologne ↓	May 27, 1990	038	03	2014	06/08/2018	2
	5	Mats Hummels	FC Bayern Munich M	December 16, 1988	064	05	2010	06/08/2018	2		1			2014	6th	2
	18th	Joshua Kimmich *	FC Bayern Munich M	02/08/1995	029	03	2016	06/08/2018	3
	2	Marvin Plattenhardt *	Hertha BSC	01/26/1992	006th	00	2017	03/27/2018	1
	16	Antonio Rudiger *	Chelsea FC P	03/03/1993	024	01	2014	02.06.2018	1
	15th	Niklas Süle *	FC Bayern Munich M	09/03/1995	011	00	2016	06/08/2018	1
Midfield and attack	20th	Julian Brandt *	Bayer 04 Leverkusen	05/02/1996	016	01	2016	06/08/2018	3
	7th	Julian Draxler *	Paris Saint-Germain D.	09/20/1993	044	06th	2012	06/08/2018	2					2014	1	0
	23	Mario Gomez	VfB Stuttgart	07/10/1985	075	31	2007	06/08/2018	3					2010	4th	0
	14th	Leon Goretzka *	FC Schalke 04	02/06/1995	015th	06th	2014	02.06.2018	1
	21st	İlkay Gündoğan	Manchester City M	October 24, 1990	026th	04th	2011	06/08/2018	1
	6th	Sami Khedira	Juventus Turin D.	04/04/1987	075	07th	2009	06/08/2018	2					2010, 2014	12	2
	8th	Toni Kroos	Real Madrid C	04/01/1990	083	12	2010	06/08/2018	3	1				2010, 2014	11	2
	13	Thomas Müller	FC Bayern Munich M	09/13/1989	091	38	2010	06/08/2018	3		1			2010, 2014	13	10
	10	Mesut Özil	Arsenal FC	October 15, 1988	090	23	2009	02.06.2018	2					2010, 2014	14th	2
	11	Marco Reus	Borussia Dortmund	05/31/1989	031	09	2011	06/08/2018	3	1
	19th	Sebastian Rudy *	FC Bayern Munich M	02/28/1990	025th	01	2014	02.06.2018	1
	9	Timo Werner *	RB Leipzig	03/06/1996	014th	08th	2017	06/08/2018	3
Coaching staff	Trainer	Joachim Löw		02/03/1960	162		2004							2006, 2010, 2014	7/14
	Trainer assistant	Thomas Schneider		11/24/1972			2014
	Trainer assistant	Marcus Sorg		December 24, 1965			2016
	Forward coach	Miroslav Klose		06/09/1978	137	71	2016							2002, 2006, 2010, 2014	24	16
	Goalkeeping coach	Andreas Koepke		03/12/1962	59	00	2004							1990, 1994 , 1998, 2006, 2010, 2014	5, 21	0
Appearances and goals as of June 8, 2018, after the game against Saudi Arabia
↑ Positions according to information from the DFB ↑ Players marked with "*" were in the squad for the Confed-Cup 2017 , "(*)" = without commitment ↑ D = champions and cup winners in the World Cup year ( double ), M = champions in the World Cup year, P = cup winners in the World Cup year, C = winners of the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League , ↓ = relegated in the World Cup year ↑ a b As an assistant trainer ↑ a b c d e f g h As a player

The preliminary roster also included the following players:

position	Surname	society	birth date	input rates	Gates	debut	Last use	World Cup participation	World Cup games (before 2018)	World Cup goals (before 2018)
goal	Bernd Leno *	Bayer 04 Leverkusen	03/04/1992	006th	00	2016	08/10/2017	-	-	-
Defense	Jonathan Tah	Bayer 04 Leverkusen	02/11/1996	003	00	2016	11/15/2016	-	-	-
midfield	Leroy Sané	Manchester City M	01/11/1996	012	00	2015	02.06.2018	-	-	-
attack	Nils Petersen	Sc freiburg	December 6, 1988	001	00	2018	02.06.2018	-	-	-

Finals

Group draw

Kazan Moscow Sochi Watutinki

Venues and quarters (blue / italic) of the German team

For the draw of the qualifying groups on December 1st, Germany was assigned to pot 1 and could therefore not be drawn into a group with record world champions Brazil, runner-up world champions Argentina or host Russia. Germany met in Group F on Mexico , Sweden and South Korea . Germany had previously met Sweden in four World Cup tournaments: 1934 in the quarter-finals (2-1 victory), 1958 in the semi-finals (1-3 defeat, only competitive game defeat against Sweden), 1974 in the second final round (4-2 victory) and in 2006 in the round of 16 (2-0 win). Mexico faced three opponents: 1978 in the first round of the final (6-0 win), 1986 in the quarter-finals (0-0 aet, 4-1 win on penalties) and in 1998 in the round of 16 (2-1 win). South Korea faced two opponents: 1994 in the preliminary round (3-2 victory) and 2002 in the semi-finals (1-0 victory). Both belonged to the same preliminary round group in 1954, when the South Koreans took part in the World Cup for the first time, but did not play against each other due to the unique mode.

The team's venues were Moscow, Sochi and Kazan, in the last two locations Germany played in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup , in Moscow five times before against Russia and the Soviet Union .

Group stage / group F matches

→ Main article : Football World Cup 2018 / Group F

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Sweden	3	2	0	1	005: 200	+3	06th
2.	Mexico	3	2	0	1	003: 400	−1	06th
3.	South Korea	3	1	0	2	003: 300	± 0	03
4th	Germany	3	1	0	2	002: 400	−2	03

Sun., June 17, 2018, 6:00 p.m. (5:00 p.m. CEST) in Moscow (Luschniki Olympic Stadium)
Germany	-	Mexico	0: 1 (0: 1)
Sat., June 23, 2018, 9:00 p.m. (8:00 p.m. CEST) in Sochi
Germany	-	Sweden	2: 1 (0: 1)	48. ′ Reus , 90 + 5 ′ Kroos
Wed., June 27, 2018, 5:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m. CEST) in Kazan
South Korea	-	Germany	2: 0 (0: 0)

Votes for elimination

“I didn't think anything. It was the same for all of us. If you look at the pictures from Kazan today, you can see what I am trying to describe here. It was nothing, total emptiness. Of course we understood that we had left, but we couldn't understand it, it was reality and at the same time surreal , it just couldn't be true. "

- Manuel Neuer , DFB captain , on his feeling after leaving the World Cup

Follow-up and processing of the departure

The debate about the photos taken by Mesut Özil and Ilkay Gündogan with the Turkish President Erdogan continued after the World Cup and ultimately led to Özil's resignation from the national team.

For many experts, the lack of attitudes on the part of the players was a major factor behind the poor performance. Some details from the World Cup quarters were named as evidence of this. Antonio Rüdiger brought a shisha (water pipe), Julian Draxler a game console case. Gamers are said to have spent so much time at game consoles that the support staff felt compelled to switch off the WLAN . Timo Werner slept through the team breakfast in the training camp.

This led to the fact that national coach Joachim Löw introduced a "Zapfenstreich" after the World Cup. Since then, players have to be in their rooms before games and in training camps at the latest, and a nightly drink at the bar is no longer allowed.

In addition, there was criticism of national team manager Oliver Bierhoff for the decision to set up the national team's quarters in the shady, forest- side Watutinki at the gates of Moscow . The mood was not as good as when they won the title in 2014 when they stayed in Campo Bahia . Sunny Sochi , on the Black Sea , was the better choice. This is where the national team had already been based during the Confederations Cup 2017 when they won the title. Mats Hummels is said to have complained in Watutinki about cold water that came out of the showers, and Matthias Ginter's television is said to have fallen off the wall. National coach Löw is said to have been dissatisfied with the decision for Watutinki and, when Germany had a game against Sweden in Sochi, presented himself relaxed on the beach, leaning casually against a lamppost or strolling along the promenade . Bierhoff justified the decision in favor of Watutinki with less travel stress if you had been first in the group, which was assumed before the World Cup. In addition, Sochi had no training ground. Some experts, however, viewed the criticism of the choice of accommodation as exaggerated and referred to the windy, barren Malente , where the national team used to have its training camp before World Cups and the legendary “spirit of Malente” developed.

Before, during and after the World Cup, there was also criticism of Bierhoff and the DFB top because of the lack of fan proximity. For example, it was criticized that during the training camp in Eppan ( South Tyrol ) the training ground was shielded with blue foils and that the national players who traveled to Russia hardly ever gave autographs. The DFB top was accused of "aloofness" and "alienation from the fans". In particular, the (marketing) slogans introduced by Bierhoff such as DIE MANNSCHAFT , # ZSMMN (pronounced: “Together”) or Best Never Rest were perceived by some media and fans as symbols for the aloofness of the DFB top. It was criticized that the DFB had lost contact with the fans and that Bierhoff had pursued "marketing at any price". The #ZSMMN was not a marketing slogan at all , but was only intended to summarize the activities and social projects of the DFB during the 2018 World Cup. DFB President Reinhard Grindel then said that he also noticed that the term DIE MANNSCHAFT was perceived as very artificial at the grassroots level and therefore even considered abolishing the name for a short time. Bierhoff took the criticism very seriously and announced that it would be closer to the fans in the future. One will try to "intensify closeness and a down-to-earth attitude". Bierhoff continues: "We have to build up closeness again". Before the 2006 World Cup , a code of conduct had been developed that had not been fully adhered to recently. The new closeness to the fans was clearly noticeable in the games after the World Cup.

In addition, in the course of the processing of the World Cup elimination, the longest press conference in DFB history took place with a duration of approx. 110 minutes, at which Bierhoff and Löw answered questions from journalists. There, national coach Jogi Löw explained that the mistakes he made at the World Cup were "almost arrogant". He wanted to “perfect” everything and “take it to the extreme”.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ fifa.com: France at the top - new calculation method introduced
2. ↑ www.dfb.de: Short distances: The 'team' moves into World Cup quarters near Moscow
3. ↑ resources.fifa.com: 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia - Team Base Camps (engl.)
4. ↑ hotels.fifa.com: Vatutinki Hotel Spa Complex
5. ↑ www.dfb.de: Final World Cup squad: Löw deletes Leno, Tah, Sané and Petersen
6. ↑ DFB captain Manuel Neuer: "It was nothing, total emptiness". tagesspiegel.de , December 26, 2018, accessed January 9, 2019 . 
7. ↑ National team - "It was surreal": Neuer describes in an emotional contribution the moment after the World Cup ended early. Focus Online , December 26, 2018, accessed January 9, 2019 . 
8. ↑ Mesut Özil: This is how politicians react to the resignation. Hamburger Abendblatt , July 23, 2018, accessed on January 15, 2019 . 
9. ↑ Criticism, misunderstanding - the end? How the DFB fails at Mesut Özil. n-tv.de, July 7, 2018, accessed January 15, 2019 . 
10. ^ Sid: Mesut Özil: All three parts of his statement in full. eurosport.de , July 23, 2018, accessed January 15, 2019 . 
11. ↑ rt: Antonio Rüdiger: National player is said to have traveled to the World Cup with a shisha pipe. In: welt.de . August 29, 2018, accessed October 7, 2018 . 
12. ↑ For more discipline in the team - Löw reintroduces the tattoo. Sportbild.de , September 4, 2018, accessed on October 26, 2018 . 
13. ↑ ^{a b} "Bad Boy" Bierhoff - The demon of Watutinki. Süddeutsche Zeitung Online =, June 29, 2018, accessed on August 21, 2020 . 
14. ↑ ^{a b} A player's television fell off the wall - Löw didn't even want to go there: Frustration with World Cup quarters is a big problem. Focus Online , June 20, 2018, accessed October 26, 2018 . 
15. ↑ ^{a b} Simon Braasch: At the Watutinki pillory - Bierhoff defends himself against accusations! MOPO online , June 20, 2018, accessed October 26, 2018 . 
16. ↑ FOOTBALL PICTURE No. 142/25 of June 21, 2018, p. 2/3.
17. ↑ ^{a b c d} Dirk Büttner: World Cup 2018: What responsibility Oliver Bierhoff has in the DFB debacle. web.de , July 3, 2018, accessed October 26, 2018 . 
18. ↑ ^{a b c} Dominik Kaiser: The role of Oliver Bierhoff: The fan left behind. ran.de , June 28, 2018, accessed October 26, 2018 . 
19. ↑ ^{a b} DFB team manager: Bierhoff made the national team a product. RP Online , June 30, 2018, accessed October 25, 2018 . 
20. ^ ^{A b} Marco Seliger: Criticism of DFB managers after the World Cup - What Oliver Bierhoff did wrong. Stuttgarter Nachrichten , August 18, 2018, accessed on July 2, 2018 . 
21. ↑ ^{a b} Rules of behavior for national players - this is how the image of the DFB team should be polished up. t-online.de .de, September 6, 2018, accessed on October 25, 2018 . 
22. ↑ ^{a b} "I'm sorry, I put it wrong". ZDF Mediathek , July 6, 2018, accessed on October 26, 2018 . 
23. ↑ Grindel criticizes himself, Bierhoff and the slogan "The team". kicker.de , August 18, 2018, accessed on October 25, 2018 . 
24. ↑ ^{a b} Jogi Löw and Oliver Bierhoff introduce code of conduct for DFB stars: "Provide a clear direction". goal.com , September 6, 2018, accessed October 26, 2018 . 
25. ↑ Practice unit before Holland Kick - DFB selection trains fan proximity with flying colors. ntv.de , October 9, 2018, accessed October 26, 2018 . 
26. ↑ World Cup analysis by the DFB: Serious coach, smart manager. Spiegel Online , August 29, 2018, accessed October 26, 2018 . 
27. ↑ Joachim Löw after the 2018 World Cup: "It was almost arrogant" - Thomas Schneider was over. Stuttgarter Zeitung , August 29, 2018, accessed on October 26, 2018 . 
28. ↑ Löw: "My greatest mistake - almost arrogant". Kicker Online , August 29, 2018, accessed October 26, 2018 .