Germany has a long and rich history when it comes to the beautiful game with the country divided due to politics until the fall of the Berlin Wall and the demise of the old Soviet Union.
Here are ten football records related to Germany national football team:
Most capped player
No one can get anywhere near Lothar Matthaus who has more caps than any other player for his country with 150.
Miroslav Klose is hunting him down and is second on the list with 121 caps and the great German striker Jurgen Klinsmann is ever further back having finished with 108 caps.
Top scorers
It’s no surprise to see Gerd Muller at the top of the list with 68 international goals altogether.
The former Bayern Munich front man is just four goals ahead of Klose on 64 and then the pack slides way off the pace with both Klinsmann and Rudi Voller sharing third position with 47 goals each.
Top scorer at the World Cups
Muller and Klose share the record for the most goals scored by a German player at the World Cup tournaments. Klose scored five goals during the 2006 World Cup hosted in Germany.
However, Klose also holds the unique record of being subbed off more times than any other German player in the history of World Cup football.
Longest serving manager
Sepp Herberger holds the record for the longest serving German manager with a staggering 28 years in charge of the team between 1936 and 1964.
The person who replaced him, Helmut Schon, is second with a twelve year reign as manager. Current boss Joachim Low has been in charge for six years and counting.
Total goals scored
Germany are only the second side in history to have scored 200 goals in World Cup football. Thomas Muller scored against Argentina in the third minute of the 2010 World Cup quarter-final to reach the 200 goals mark. Germany have a current total of 203 goals at World Cups.
Youngest captain at a World Cup
Full back Philipp Lahm became the youngest ever player to captain his country at a World Cup when he took over the duty from Michael Ballack during the 2010 tournament in South Africa. He’s also played the most consecutive minutes for Germany in World Cup football having played every minute of the 2006 tournament and then every minute of qualifying for the 2010 tournament.
Youngest century maker
Arsenal striker Lukas Podolski became the youngest ever German to reach 100 caps for his country. He passed the 100 mark aged 27-years and 13 days old when he appeared in the European Championships match against Denmark in 2012. He scored in the match to notch up his 44th goal for Germany.
Italian foes
Germany have never been able to beat Italy in an international tournament. The sequence was extended to eight games when Mario Balotelli tore Germany apart in the 2-1 defeat to Italy during the semi-final of the 2012 UEFA European Championship.
Golden goal
Germany were the first side in the world to win a major tournament using the old golden goal method. Oliver Bierhoff scored the equalizer in normal time against the Czech Republic in the final of Euro 96, he then went on to score what turned out to be the winner in extra time.
East and West Germany
East and West Germany met on only one occasion when the nation was divided. The stage was the 1974 World Cup with the sides meeting on June 22nd. East Germany produced a shocking 1-0 win which very few predicted as both teams qualified out of their group and into the knock out stage.
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