What is up, people of the internet? So, you may know that the World Cup is just around the corner and we here at BFW are putting together a series of articles about Germany in the build-up to the tournament itself. Teddy is already working on the top 10 goals that Germany has scored in World Cup history, so I proposed an idea that we should relive the best wins that Die Mannschaft has experienced. Which is why I’m here to introduce my top 10 Germany wins at the World Cup.
For this, I’m going to include
matches that I know and watched in person (live, on the TV, haven’t got the facilities to watch Germany live in the stadium yet) and I will also rank each match based on how special the match is to me.
2. Germany 7-1 Brazil, 2014 World Cup Semifinals
Germany was undefeated in the knockout rounds of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Die Mannschaft beat Algeria 2-1 after extra time and narrowly beat France 1-0 in the quarterfinals, which set up a semifinal clash with the host nation Brazil. The Seleção were similarly undefeated in the run up to the Semifinal: beating Chile 3-2 in penalties after a 1-1 draw and won against Colombia 2-1. Two players were unavailable for the Germany-Brazil match: Neymar had a back injury while captain Thiago Silva accumulated enough yellow cards to earn a suspension. The odds were against Brazil, but everyone expected a close match between the 2002 World Cup finalists. If only they knew.
The match kicked off in Belo Horizonte, and Brazil dominated the opening stages of the match. Marcelo, the Brazilian left-back, had the first shot of the match that just went wide before Manuel Neuer had to be alert to intercept a cross from Hulk intended for Bernard. Germany soon had their first chance when Sami Khedira escaped a pressing situation and passed out wide to Thomas Müller. Mesut Özil picked up the cross and played it back to the middle for Khedira whose shot was inadvertently blocked by his own teammate Toni Kroos. Ten minutes had passed and the game remained stagnant before the first corner kick of the match came from Marcelo’s error high up the pitch and then him deflecting the ball behind for the corner. Kroos took charge of the corner and swung the ball in with plenty of height and power. Müller managed to escape David Luiz in the box and sidefooted the shot first time to give Germany the lead after 11 minutes played. Not ideal for Brazil.
The match resumed with the same cautious manner which it began with, save for another chance for the home side just a few minutes later. Jérôme Boateng soon got into a heated confrontation with Marcelo, which Neuer and Müller immediately dispersed to avoid unnecessary yellows for either player. Other than that, the match was still a tightly contested one. Miroslav Klose scuffled his shot from outside of the box, but he won’t be denied his goal.
Müller on the right flank passed the ball centrally to Kroos which Fernandinho failed to intercept, which allowed Müller and Klose to combine inside the box. Klose’s first shot was saved by Júlio César but scored the follow up. Klose’s goal meant he just scored his 16th World Cup goal, surpassing Ronaldo Nazario’s tally of 15; Ronaldo was doing live commentary in the stadium and watched Klose break his record live. Just under two minutes later, Kroos buried Philipp Lahm’s cross from the right. A minute after that, literally after showing the replay of that goal, Kroos stole the ball from Fernandinho in midfield and played a 1-2 with Khedira before slotting the ball home. Germany was 4-0 up after just 26 minutes.
The Brazilians, players, coaches, and fans alike, were stunned by what just happened. In just three minutes, their team has conceded three goals to put the rampant Germans out of reach before a half hour was even played. Some of those watching in the stadium were reduced to tears because they were witnessing something, as the commentator put it, extraordinary and astonishing. Maybe not for them, but for those watching it that aren’t Brazilians. David Luiz later cleared the ball straight to Mats Hummels, who carried the ball forward to give Germany a numerical advantage in the Brazilian half. Khedira and Özil were at the scene of the crime as the latter assisted the former to make it 5-0 Germany in just 29 minutes.
Suffice to say that Brazil lost control of the match. The commentator said, “There’s no hiding place from this rampant German side. The Brazilians look like they want to go to the dressing rooms already.” He begged the question, “What on Earth can Scolari [the Brazil coach] do?” The answer? Not much, for the rest of the first half anyway. Scolari made a couple changes at the break, bringing on Ramires and Paulinho for Fernandinho and Hulk. This did improve Brazil’s chances where Neuer had to produce three big saves from point-blank range.
The legend goes that at halftime, Germany coach Joachim Löw told his players to stop scoring out of respect for the visibly stricken host nation. Unfortunately, someone was at the bathroom and failed to heed Löw’s warning. That player was André Schürrle, who got subbed on for Klose just before the hour mark. Schürrle promptly helped himself to two goals: first by slotting home Lahm’s pass inside the box, then volleying Müller’s cross from the left under the crossbar. Schürrle’s goals were timed at 69’ and 79’, exactly 10 minutes between them. At that point, this was Brazil’s biggest loss since a 6-0 defeat to Uruguay in 1920!
Oscar did get one back for the hosts in the 90th minute, but it was all a mere consolation as Germany condemned them to the third-place match; Toni Kroos would earn Man of the Match for his contributions on the field. Several records were set after the match ended, including, but not limited to:
- Biggest winning margin in a World Cup Semifinal or Final
- Worst loss by a host country
- Fastest time between four goals (23’ to 29’)
- Most goals scored against the host nation (equaling Austria’s 7 goal haul in the 7-5 defeat of Switzerland in 1954)
This was Brazil’s biggest defeat since that 1920 Uruguay match, beating a 5-1 defeat by Argentina in 1939. Brazil’s 62-match unbeaten streak, set after a 3-1 defeat to Peru in the 1975 Copa America semifinal. Brazil had never lost a semifinal since 1938 (Italy) and last conceded a similar number of goals in the World Cup was against Poland in 1938 as well (6-5 Brazil win). Brazil’s biggest margin of loss before this match was the 1998 World Cup Final, which ended in a 3-0 defeat to host nation France.
Brazil would go on to lose the third-place match 3-0 to the Netherlands, who were defeated by Argentina on penalties in the other Semifinal. You can probably guess the last entry of this series, the greatest ever win by Germany at the World Cup for me.
Join the conversation!
Sign up for a user account and get:
- New, improved notifications system!
- Fewer ads
- Create community posts
- Comment on articles, community posts
- Rec comments, community posts
