2001 Germany v England football match

The two sides have met on a number of important occasions in their footballing histories.

They had played in the 1966 World Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, in which England had beaten West Germany 4–2 after extra time. Revenge came just four years later, in the quarter-final of the 1970 World Cup in Mexico when the English side forfeited a 2–0 lead, losing 3–2 after extra time.[5] West Germany then defeated England in the semi-final of the 1990 competition, this time on penalties. In Euro 1996, Germany again defeated England in a semi-final on penalties. Germany was then beaten by England in the same tournament four years later, a goal by courtesy of Alan Shearer. In the last match at Wembley before it was closed for redevelopment in October 2000, Germany won 1–0, causing England's manager Kevin Keegan to resign.[6]

Germany were the clear group leaders in the qualifying tournament before the game. With only the group winners advancing directly to the 2002 World Cup, the qualifying group table was:

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Germany	6	5	1	0	13	5	+8	16
England	5	3	1	1	7	3	+4	10
Greece	6	2	0	4	4	10	−6	6
Finland	5	1	2	2	5	6	−1	5
Albania	6	1	0	5	5	10	−5	3

A German victory would have confirmed their qualification and seen England competing with Greece and Finland for a place in the play-offs. A draw would have resulted in Germany requiring just another draw from their final game, and England requiring two victories, a German loss, and an improvement in their goal difference. Germany had lost just one of their previous sixty qualification games, in qualification for the 1986 World Cup, and had been unbeaten at the Munich Olympic stadium since 1973. Indeed, the German Football Association were so confident that Germany would finish at the top of the qualifying table that they had arranged friendlies on the dates of the play-offs.[7]

England named four strikers in their squad, with Robbie Fowler and Andy Cole having started the recent friendly with the Netherlands. However, Sven-Göran Eriksson recalled the in-form Michael Owen and his strike partner Emile Heskey in an attacking line-up for the match in Munich.[8]

The game provided a boost for the England squad's morale, and greatly increased the popularity of their manager, Sven-Göran Eriksson.[9] It was a low point for the German national team, whose performances had been worsening after the mid-1990s. It spawned two hit records: "England 5 – Germany 1" by The Business and "Sven Sven Sven" by Bell & Spurling. German manager Rudi Völler's father was reported to have suffered a heart attack watching the game.[10]

England beat Albania 2 – 0 in their next match, four days later.[11] This meant that England and Germany entered the final qualifying game with an equal number of points, though England now had a better goal difference. Neither team managed to win their final group game, with a last minute Beckham free kick earning England a 2–2 draw with Greece.[12][13] This sent England directly through, whilst Germany went into the play-offs, in which they defeated Ukraine to qualify for the World Cup.

At the World Cup finals in South Korea and Japan, Germany enjoyed more success, finishing second, which made them the most successful European team in that year's cup. They also scored the tournament's biggest win that year, an 8–0 rout of Saudi Arabia.[14] Their goalkeeper Oliver Kahn won FIFA's Golden Ball, becoming the first goalkeeper to do so. England were only able to reach the quarter-finals, where they were knocked out by Brazil, who went on to beat Germany 2–0 in the final.[15]

• England–Germany football rivalry
• 1966 FIFA World Cup Final
• 2000 England v Germany football match
• List of England national football team hat-tricks
• List of Germany national football team hat-tricks

• Game report and stats at England football online
• BBC report on the game
• Game and stats at Vietnam football online
• kubet88.com Statistics soccer team data