Germany is by far the most successful European footballing nation. The German national side has reached the World Cup final on seven occasions. They narrowly lost the 2002 world cup final and put on a most spectacular performance in the 2006 world cup finals as they reached the semi finals. Their last major trophy was the 1996 European Championships which in turn was the third occasion that they won the European Championships. Germany were arguably at their peak during the 1970’s as they boasted the legendary Franz Beckenbauer and the phenomenal goal scorer, Gerd Muller.
The German football club, Bayern Munich dominated the European football scene in the 1970’s. Germany boasts many great clubs such as Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, Hamburg and Bayern Munich.
Soccer commenced in Germany in the 1880’s. By 1898 regional league had been formed with the champions of each league competing to be national winners. Post war Germany was divided into East and West, and in the year 1963 a single national league, the Bundesliga, was created in West Germany. Germany has won the European championships on three occasions, a record. They defeated Belgium 2-1 in the 1980 final, defeated the Soviet Union in 1972 and the Czech Republic in the 1996 final.
Bayern Munich are by far the most successful German domestic club, they have won the league title on 17 occasions and European cup wins in 1974, 1975, 1976 and 2000.
Their greatest player of all time has to be Franz Beckenbauer; he captained West Germany to world cup glory in 1974 and was their victorious manager in the 1990 world cup final.