East Germany at the FIFA World Cup

After the division of Germany in 1949, West Germany was declared Germany's official successor team. East Germany was accepted as a FIFA member only in 1952 and entered the qualification tournament for the first time for 1958, but finished last in their qualification group behind Czechoslovakia and Wales.

They appeared in the finals of the FIFA World Cup on one occasion in 1974. During the tournament they played West Germany, who were hosts in that year, for the first and only time at senior level, winning 1–0. East Germany was reunified with West Germany in 1990 and did not compete again after the 1990 World Cup.

Record at the FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup finals record											Qualifications record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad		Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1954	Did not enter										Did not enter
1958	Did not qualify										3rd	4	1	0	3	5	12
1962											3rd	3	0	1	2	3	6
1966											2nd	4	1	2	1	5	5
1970											2nd	4	2	1	1	7	7
1974	Second group stage	6th	6	2	2	2	5	5	Squad		1st	6	5	0	1	18	3
1978	Did not qualify										2nd	6	3	3	0	15	4
1982											2nd	4	2	0	2	9	6
1986											3rd	8	5	0	3	16	9
1990											4th	8	3	1	4	9	13
Total	Second group stage	1/10	6	2	2	2	5	5	—		–	47	22	8	17	87	65

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks

By match

World Cup	Round	Opponent	Score	Result	Venue	Scorers
1974	Group stage	Australia	2–0	W	Hamburg	C. Curran (o.g.), J. Streich
		Chile	1–1	D	Berlin	M. Hoffmann
		West Germany	1–0	W	Hamburg	J. Sparwasser
	Second round	Brazil	0–1	L	Hanover	—
		Netherlands	0–2	L	Gelsenkirchen	—
		Argentina	1–1	D	Gelsenkirchen	J. Streich

Record by opponent

FIFA World Cup matches (by team)
Opponent	Wins	Draws	Losses	Total	Goals Scored	Goals Conceded
Argentina	0	1	0	1	1	1
Australia	1	0	0	1	2	0
Brazil	0	0	1	1	0	1
Chile	0	1	0	1	1	1
Netherlands	0	0	1	1	0	2
West Germany	1	0	0	1	1	0

East Germany at 1974 World Cup

First Round, Group 1

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
East Germany	3	2	1	0	4	1	+3	5
West Germany	3	2	0	1	4	1	+3	4
Chile	3	0	2	1	1	2	−1	2
Australia	3	0	1	2	0	5	−5	1

14 June 1974

19:30 CET

East Germany	2 – 0	Australia
Curran 58' (o.g.) Streich 72'	Report

Volksparkstadion, Hamburg

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: Youssou N'Diaye (Senegal)

18 June 1974

19:30 CET

Chile	1 – 1	East Germany
Ahumada 69'	Report	Hoffmann 55'

Olympiastadion, West Berlin

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: Aurelio Angonese (Italy)

22 June 1974

19:30 CET

East Germany	1 – 0	West Germany
Sparwasser 77'	Report

Volksparkstadion, Hamburg

Attendance: 60,350

Referee: Ramón Barreto (Uruguay)

Second Round, Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Netherlands	3	3	0	0	8	0	+8	6
Brazil	3	2	0	1	3	3	0	4
East Germany	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3	1
Argentina	3	0	1	2	2	7	−5	1

26 June 1974

19:30 CET

Brazil	1 – 0	East Germany
Rivellino 60'	Report

Niedersachsenstadion, Hanover

Attendance: 58,463

Referee: Clive Thomas (Wales)

30 June 1974

16:00 CET

East Germany	0 – 2	Netherlands
	Report	Neeskens 13' Rensenbrink 59'

Parkstadion, Gelsenkirchen

Attendance: 67,148

Referee: Rudolf Scheurer (Switzerland)

3 July 1974

19:30 CET

Argentina	1 – 1	East Germany
Houseman 20'	Report	Streich 14'

Parkstadion, Gelsenkirchen

Attendance: 53,054

Referee: Jack Taylor (England)

Record players

Top goalscorers

This page was last edited on 29 September 2023, at 14:41