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.
The unusually lengthy gap between this post and the last post was because I felt Germany’s latest World Cup disappointment had to simmer down. Now with Jürgen Klopp soon taking over, Germany will hopefully be back to their best on the international stage.
3. Germany 2-1 Sweden, 2018 World Cup Group Stage
This is the only time that I will include a World Cup match by Germany after 2014, because we all knew what Germany is like since 2018; it’s been eight years and they’ve evolved backwards as PewDiePie once said. It’s fitting that I used a quote from a Swedish YouTuber because it’s Germany vs. Sweden in the second match of Group F (for Fail, probably).
As reigning champions, Germany slumped to a 1-0 loss to Mexico in the opening match of the 2018 World Cup (and to think I hyped them up at school at the time *facepalm). Up next was Sweden, and Germany needed to win that match in order to keep their hopes of progressing to the knockouts alive. This was by no means a comfortable match, as their tournament hangs in the balance.
This was a new look Die Mannschaft, with some key players carrying over like Manuel Neuer, Thomas Müller, and Marco Reus finally joining the national team. Germany fired the warning shots early as Julian Draxler fired straight at Robin Olsen who kept the ball out of the net. Jonas Hector soon followed up with a volley that got deflected away by Andreas Granqvist. Emil Forsberg thought he was one-on-one with Neuer, but Müller and Sebastian Rudy managed to put him off just enough.
Joshua Kimmich played Reus down the right who crossed the ball for Timo Werner, but Victor Lindelöf got in the way. Marcus Berg did find himself with only Neuer to beat before Jérôme Boateng put him off in time for Neuer to collect the ball. Kimmich’s cross for Draxler came to nothing, before Toni Kroos carelessly gave the ball away to Berg. Viktor Claesson received the ball on the right wing before he played the ball forward to Berg who managed to fend off pressure from Kroos and Antonio Rüdiger and control the ball with his chest before lobbing Neuer for the opening goal.
Germany was in serious trouble. A loss then would put them out, with the media likely going to report about them succumbing to the “Champions Curse” wherein the defending World Cup winners got grouped in the next tournament. Italy won it in 2006 and got grouped in 2010. Spain won it in 2010 and got grouped in 2014. You get the idea.
Olsen had to be alert as Germany had three chances to score which they didn’t convert. Penalty shouts from Müller went unnoticed before Berg latched onto another header from the right. The difference here is that Neuer got a hand to it, and that move signaled the end of the first half. Germany had 45 minutes to save their World Cup campaign, and it’s not like they didn’t try. They were unlucky not to get a goal and at the same time were (a bit) unlucky to let a goal in.
Whatever Joachim Löw said in the dressing room worked, because the Germans got their equalizer just three minutes into the second half. Werner sped past Mikael Lustig and crossed it for Mario Gomez; Gomez was taken down by Granqvist, but Reus was there to knock the ball home despite Ludwig Augustinsson’s late lunge. It was 1-1; just one more goal from either side would’ve been enough for a win.
Kroos, Gomez, Müller, and Hector all had scoring opportunities within seven minutes of Reus’s goal yet not one of them could convert their chances. Kimmich laid the ball on a plate for Reus, who tried to recreate André Schürrle’s goal against Algeria in the last 16 in the previous World Cup but was unable to. Werner had a couple of big moments in front of goal, so Boateng decided to mirror him with his own big moment: a red card from two yellow cards. Germany was down to 10 men and eight minutes plus stoppage time to score a goal.
John Guidetti, the most Swedish-sounding player on the team, failed to capitalize on Neuer’s hesitation from a cross which allowed the latter to recover and punch the ball away. Gomez thought he scored in the 87th minute when Olsen tipped the header over the bar. The clock read 94:04 when substitute Jimmy Durmaz clipped Werner on the left wing for a free kick. Kroos and Reus stood over the ball discussing the strat: they knew it was an indirect freekick and shooting it in without anyone else touching it would mean the goal won’t count. So, here’s what they did.
The two waited for the referee’s whistle. Kroos tipped it to Reus, who stopped the ball dead, then Kroos continued his run-up and struck the ball sweet as a nut. The ball flew high over the sea of players in the Swedish box; Olsen reached up with a glove, but the ball had enough height on it to go over his hand and into the goal. It was total chaos on and off the pitch. Kroos’s teammates swarmed him in celebration as did the fans watching around the world.
Timed at 94:42 (or depending on the source), Kroos just scored the latest winning goal at a World Cup group stage ever, surpassing Francesco Totti’s goal against Australia in 2006 (94:26). That win set Germany up for a must-win match against South Korea, who promptly sent the defending champions packing. It was the same in 2022 and now in 2026.
With Jürgen Klopp soon at the helm, Germany is destined for bigger and better things in the coming years. Speaking of which, let’s do the same for this series. The next one is the one that everyone’s been waiting for.
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