National soccer team of the GDR / World Championships

German Democratic Republic

World Cup record goalscorer:	Joachim Streich (2)
World Cup record players:	7 players (6 each)
Rank :	51
Balance sheet
6 World Cup matches, 2 wins, 2 draws, 2 defeats, 5: 5 goals
statistics
First World Cup game GDR 2-0 Australia Hamburg ( FRG ); June 15, 1974
Last World Cup game GDR 1: 1 Argentina Gelsenkirchen ( FRG ); 3rd July 1974
Highest World Cup victory in GDR 2-0 Australia Hamburg ( FRG ); June 15, 1974
Biggest World Cup defeat GDR 0: 2 Netherlands Gelsenkirchen ( FRG ); June 30, 1974
successes
World Championship
Participation in the finals	1 ( first : 1974 )
Best results	Intermediate round 1974	(As of July 2018 )

The article contains a detailed description of the national soccer team of the GDR at soccer world championships . The GDR national soccer team was once able to qualify for a World Cup finals. In the all-time table , it is ranked 51st and is the best team that only participated once. Since the DFV disbanded after the reunification of Germany and was integrated into the now all-German DFB , an independent national team of the GDR has not participated since then.

Overview

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1950	Brazil	not participated				Not a FIFA member
1954	Switzerland	not participated
1958	Sweden	not qualified				In qualifying at the Czechoslovakia and Wales failed.
1962	Chile	not qualified				In the qualification of Hungary failed.
1966	England	not qualified				In the qualification again Hungary failed.
1970	Mexico	not qualified				In the qualification of European champions Italy failed
1974	BR Germany	2nd final round	Brazil , Netherlands , Argentina	6th	Georg Buschner	1-0 win against the hosts and eventual world champions
1978	Argentina	not qualified				In the qualification of Austria failed
1982	Spain	not qualified				Failed in the qualification to Poland
1986	Mexico	not qualified				In the qualification of Bulgarian and European champions France failed
1990	Italy	not qualified				In the qualification of Austria and the Soviet Union failed

Statistics (data including 2018: 21 World Championships; percentages are rounded)

• No participation / no FIFA member: 2 × (10%; 1950, 1954)
• Unqualified: 8 × (38%; 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990)
• Participation as part of Germany: 9 × (43%; 1934, 1938, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018)
• Not participated, as part of Germany: 1 × (5%; 1930)

• Athletic qualification: 1 × (5% or 11% of the attempts)
  • 2nd final round with 8 teams: 1 × (5%; 1974)

World Cup tournaments

1950 in Brazil

The DFV was only founded on July 3, 1950 after Germany was divided into two states due to the war . H. while the World Cup was already underway in Brazil, and accepted into FIFA in 1952. Therefore, the GDR could not yet participate in the qualification for the first World Cup after World War II.

1954 in Switzerland

The GDR had already played its first international matches in 1952 after being accepted into FIFA, but the GDR did not yet take part in qualifying for the 1954 World Cup. In handball , on the other hand, Germany took part in the 1954 World Cup as well as the 1958 World Cup in the GDR and 1961 in the Federal Republic of Germany with an all-German team.

1958 in Sweden

The GDR then wanted to qualify for the first time for the 1958 World Cup . When the groups were drawn, the GDR was drawn into a group with Czechoslovakia and Wales . On May 19, 1957, the GDR played its first World Cup qualifying match in Leipzig , winning 2-1 against Wales. No more points were won because the other three games were lost. Czechoslovakia qualified as group winners, Wales got a second chance as second in the group and were able to compete against Israel , the only remaining team in the Africa / Asia qualification. The Welsh people took this opportunity and also qualified for the World Cup finals.

1962 in Chile

To qualify for the third World Cup in South America , the GDR was drawn into a group with the Netherlands and Hungary . In contrast to the Olympic Games, where up to and including 1964 only an all-German team could participate and the GDR won the bronze medal for Germany, two German teams took part in the qualification. Hungary only gave up a point in the last game in a 3: 3 against the Netherlands and were able to qualify confidently. The GDR only managed to win points in the home game against the Netherlands. The second leg in the Netherlands was canceled because the Dutch government did not grant entry to the GDR footballers. Since it was meaningless for the outcome of the qualification, it was not made up.

1966 in England

In qualifying for the World Cup in the home country of football , the GDR met the Hungarians and Austria again . The GDR started with two draws, 1: 1 in Austria and 1: 1 in the home game against the Hungarians. After the 2: 3 home defeat against Hungary they had no chance to qualify. Then the 1-0 home win against Austria was useless. The victory of the Hungarians also gave FIFA a sigh of relief; because a GDR eleven who were victorious in the qualification would not have received an entry visa to England in 1966 in view of the political situation at the time ( Hallstein doctrine , sole representation of the Federal Republic of Germany) .

1970 in Mexico

In qualifying for the first World Cup in Central America , the GDR was drawn into a group with European champions Italy and Wales again. In the first game against the European champions, the GDR scored 2-2 in East Berlin. This was followed by two wins against Wales and since Italy also won both games against Wales, the second leg in Naples had to decide who was allowed to go to the World Cup. The southern Europeans prevailed 3-0, the GDR had to watch again.

1974 in the Federal Republic of Germany

Scene from the first World Cup game against Australia

Scene from the World Cup game against Germany

Scene from the World Cup game against the Dutch

→ Main article : Football World Cup 1974 / GDR

The GDR was finally able to qualify for the 1974 World Cup . In a group with Romania , Finland and Albania the first place was taken, only lost in Romania and benefited from the fact that the Romanians gave up one point in Finland.

In the group draw for the first final round, the GDR was drawn into a group with the host, the Federal Republic of Germany , Chile and World Cup newcomer Australia , which led to spontaneous applause at the draw. In addition to the first comparison against the German senior national team, the upcoming encounter against Chile was particularly politically explosive, which made the GDR's participation appear uncertain for a while. In the World Cup qualification, the USSR prematurely canceled the relegation against the South Americans due to the military coup against the local socialist government supported by the CIA the year before , whereupon the Soviet team was disqualified by FIFA. Only two weeks earlier, in September 1973, opposition members were arrested in the national stadium in Santiago de Chile , where the second leg was to take place. Later they learned of the tortures and murders that had taken place there. Nevertheless, the game was kicked off, but canceled after the 1-0 win, as no restart was possible due to the lack of Soviet players. The game was rated 2-0 for Chile. The West Berlin venue was also problematic in the eyes of the GDR leadership, as they did not want to recognize that West Berlin belonged to the Federal Republic. Since the balance of power in FIFA was different than in UEFA, the Federal Republic was able to assert West Berlin as the venue, unlike at the 1988 European Championship .

It was only thanks to the euphoria due to the first successful qualification that the GDR took part in the World Cup.

During the first final round of the tournament , the GDR met Australia first . On June 14, 1974, she won her first World Cup game in Hamburg 2-0, but had to wait until the 58th minute for the first goal, which then came through an own goal by the Australian Colin Curran . Joachim Streich was then 14 minutes later the first World Cup goalscorer in the GDR. Four days later there was a 1-1 draw against Chile in the Berlin Olympic Stadium . The subsequent German-German duel against the DFB selection on the last preliminary round match day was no longer important, at least for advancing into the second final round. With a goalless draw in the previous encounter between Chile and Australia, both German teams were already qualified for this round, which was held for the first time at this World Cup, in order to finance the expensive stadium renovations and renovations with more games. So it was all about winning the group. The GDR finally managed a 1-0 victory against the favored host and eventual winner of the tournament. In the Hamburg Volksparkstadion , which was sold out with 62,000 spectators , Jürgen Sparwasser scored the golden goal, which made the Magdeburg man well-known in the Federal Republic.

The victory in the prestige duel turned out to be a Pyrrhic victory, because the GDR team had to compete in the much heavier group with the reigning world champion Brazil , the World Cup favorites Netherlands and Argentina . After two defeats against Brazil and the Netherlands (0-1 and 0-2 respectively) as well as a 1-1 draw against Argentina, the expected end of this World Cup tournament came for the GDR and the GDR said goodbye to the World Cup . For the team of the Federal Republic, which had not convinced against Chile and Australia either, the defeat against the GDR had a beneficial effect. With three wins against Yugoslavia , Sweden and the surprisingly strong Poles , they reached the final against the Dutch and won this too.

1978 in Argentina

Although the GDR had won the Olympic gold medal with many players from the 74 World Cup squad in 1976 , it only finished second in qualifying for the World Cup in Argentina , behind Austria , which qualified for the first time since 1958, ahead of Turkey and Malta . The GDR team did not lose a game, but gambled away the qualification in the home games against Turkey and Austria, both of which ended only 1: 1, and a 1: 1 in Austria.

1982 in Spain

To qualify for the World Cup on the Iberian Peninsula , the GDR was drawn into the only European group of three with Poland and Malta . Poland won all four games, the GDR only against Malta. Thus, the GDR retired as second in the group.

1986 in Mexico

The GDR was also unable to qualify for the second World Cup in Mexico . In a group with Bulgaria , the newly crowned European champion France (both qualified with 11: 5 points), the GDR was only third ahead of Yugoslavia and Luxembourg . The GDR gambled away the qualification in the first game, which was lost 3-2 to Yugoslavia in Leipzig . The points lost were missing in the end for qualification. In the end, the home wins against Bulgaria and France didn't help either.

1990 in Italy

The qualification for the second World Cup in Italy was again unsuccessful. Behind Austria and the USSR , which were able to qualify, as well as Turkey , only 4th place was placed ahead of Iceland . However, the qualification was only missed on the last matchday due to a 3-0 defeat in Austria on November 15, 1989, six days after the fall of the Berlin Wall . This was the last competitive game for the GDR and many GDR players were recruited by West German clubs in the Vienna stadium. For the subsequent European Championship qualification , the GDR team was still registered and drawn into a group with the Federal Republic, but the GDR no longer took part due to reunification . Some GDR players were also integrated into the German national team. However, Franz Beckenbauer's prediction that the German team that won the 1990 World Cup would be unbeatable for years to come did not come true . At the following World Cup, Germany was eliminated in the quarter-finals. Although Germany won the European Championship in 1996 - also with some players from the GDR - it took until 2014 before Germany was able to win the World Cup again, with Toni Kroos, a player in the team who was in the team before reunification GDR was born.

player

Ranking of the GDR players with the most World Cup appearances

01. Bernd Bransch , Jürgen Croy , Martin Hoffmann , Gerd Kische , Jürgen Sparwasser , Konrad Weise and Herbert Prohaska : 6 appearances in a tournament

08. Harald Irmscher , Wolfram Löwe , Ulf Kirsten , Lothar Kurbjuweit , Matthias Sammer , Joachim Streich and Siegmar Wätzlich : 4 appearances in a tournament

15. Peter Ducke , Hans-Jürgen Kreische , Reinhard Lauck , Jürgen Pommerenke and Eberhard Vogel : 3 appearances in a tournament

Note: players in italics played for the team of reunified Germany.

Ranking of the GDR players with the most World Cup goals

Joachim Streich (No. 11), the most successful World Cup scorer in the GDR, cheers after his goal against Argentina

1. Joachim Streich - 2 goals
2. Martin Hoffmann and Jürgen Sparwasser - 1 goal each (also an own goal by the Australian Colin Curran , 1st World Cup goal for the GDR)

World Cup captains

• 1974: Bernd Bransch

Players banned from World Championships

• 1974: Gerd Kische received the second yellow card in the second group game , but this did not have an exclusive effect and so Kische was also able to play in the following games. No GDR player received the red card .

Share of players playing abroad in the World Cup squad

In its only World Cup participation , the GDR only used players who played in the GDR due to the sports policy of the Eastern Bloc at the time.

National players of the GDR in the squad of the all-German team at later World Cup tournaments

• 1994: Ulf Kirsten (no use), Matthias Sammer (4 games)
• 1998: Ulf Kirsten (4 games), Olaf Marschall (1 game)

Games

The GDR played six World Cup games. Two of them were won, two lost and two ended in a draw.

The GDR never took part in the opening game, but had to play against the host once and won against the eventual world champion.

In the second final round, the GDR also played against the defending champion.

The GDR met a newcomer to the World Cup once: 1974 (when you were a newcomer yourself) / Australia

All games are unique.

The GDR played in four World Cup cities, most often in Hamburg and Gelsenkirchen (twice each).

All World Cup games
No.	date	Result	opponent		venue	occasion	comment
1	06/15/1974	2-0	Australia	*	Hamburg ( FRG ), Volksparkstadion	1. Final round	only international game against Australia, only international game against an oceanic team
2	06/18/1974	1: 1	Chile	*	West Berlin ( FRG ), Olympic Stadium	1. Final round
3	06/22/1974	1-0	FRG	*	Hamburg ( FRG ), Volksparkstadion	1. Final round	only A international match against the FRG, winning goal by Jürgen Sparwasser
4th	06/26/1974	0: 1	Brazil	*	Hanover ( FRG ), Lower Saxony Stadium	2nd final round	first international match against Brazil
5	06/30/1974	0: 2	Netherlands	*	Gelsenkirchen ( FRG ), Park Stadium	2nd final round
6th	07/03/1974	1: 1	Argentina	*	Gelsenkirchen ( FRG ), Park Stadium	2nd final round	first international match against Argentina

Highest victories and defeats

The GDR team achieved their highest victories against the following countries at the World Cup tournament:

•  Australia : 1st final round 1974 2-0 (only game against Australia)
•  Federal Republic of Germany : 1st final round 1974 1-0 (only game against the Federal Republic of Germany)

particularities

• The only team to win against the hosts and eventual world champions in 1974.

Web links

• 1974 FIFA World Cup Germany - The GDR at the 1974 World Cup on fifa.com
• fifa.com: Statistical overview: records and milestones

References and footnotes

1. ↑ The placements from 5th place onwards were determined by FIFA without any placement games. See: All-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930-2014 (PDF; 200 kB)
2. ↑ Dutch government under pressure - GDR national soccer team was not allowed to enter the country / FIFA threatens to expel Holland. In: New Germany. ZEFYS, Archives of the Berlin State Library , September 8, 1961, p. 8 , accessed on April 24, 2014 . 
3. ↑ spiegel.de: Chile against USSR 1973: The most absurd game in football history
4. ↑ Paul Doyle: The Joy of Six: football fiascos , Guardian article, Jan. 17, 2014