View source for East Germany at the FIFA World Cup

{{Short description|Participation of East Germany's national football team in the FIFA World Cup}}
{{Unreferenced|date=November 2021}}After the [[History of Germany (1945–90)|division of Germany]] in 1949, West Germany was declared Germany's official successor team. [[East Germany national football team|East Germany]] was accepted as a [[FIFA]] member only in 1952 and entered the qualification tournament for the first time for [[1958 FIFA World Cup|1958]], but finished last in their [[1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA – Group 4)|qualification group]] behind [[Czechoslovakia national football team|Czechoslovakia]] and [[Wales national football team|Wales]].

They appeared in the finals of the [[FIFA World Cup]] on one occasion in [[1974 FIFA World Cup|1974]]. During the tournament they played [[Germany national football team|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==

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!colspan=10|[[FIFA World Cup]] finals record
!width=1% rowspan="15"|
!colspan=7|[[FIFA World Cup qualification|Qualifications]] record
|-
!Year
!Round
!Position
!{{Tooltip|Pld|Games played}}
!{{Tooltip|W|Won}}
!{{Tooltip|D|Drawn}}
!{{Tooltip|L|Lost}}
!{{Tooltip|GF|Goals for}}
!{{Tooltip|GA|Goals against}}
!Squad
!{{Tooltip|Pos|Position}}
!{{Tooltip|Pld|Games played}}
!{{Tooltip|W|Won}}
!{{Tooltip|D|Drawn}}
!{{Tooltip|L|Lost}}
!{{Tooltip|GF|Goals for}}
!{{Tooltip|GA|Goals against}}
|-
|{{flagicon|Switzerland}} [[1954 FIFA World Cup|1954]]
|colspan=9|''Did not enter''
|colspan=7|''Did not enter''
|-
|{{flagicon|Sweden}} [[1958 FIFA World Cup|1958]]
|colspan=9 rowspan=4|''Did not qualify''
|3rd
|4
|1
|0
|3
|5
|12
|-
|{{flagicon|Chile}} [[1962 FIFA World Cup|1962]]
|3rd
|3
|0
|1
|2
|3
|6
|-
|{{flagicon|England}} [[1966 FIFA World Cup|1966]]
|2nd
|4
|1
|2
|1
|5
|5
|-
|{{flagicon|Mexico}} [[1970 FIFA World Cup|1970]]
|2nd
|4
|2
|1
|1
|7
|7
|-
|{{flagicon|West Germany}} [[1974 FIFA World Cup|1974]]
|Second group stage
|6th
|6
|2
|2
|2
|5
|5
|[[1974 FIFA World Cup squads#East Germany|Squad]]
|1st
|6
|5
|0
|1
|18
|3
|-
|{{flagicon|Argentina}} [[1978 FIFA World Cup|1978]]
|colspan=9 rowspan=4|''Did not qualify''
|2nd
|6
|3
|3
|0
|15
|4
|-
|{{flagicon|Spain}} [[1982 FIFA World Cup|1982]]
|2nd
|4
|2
|0
|2
|9
|6
|-
|{{flagicon|Mexico}} [[1986 FIFA World Cup|1986]]
|3rd
|8
|5
|0
|3
|16
|9
|-
|{{flagicon|Italy}} [[1990 FIFA World Cup|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'''
|-
|}
:<small>''*Draws include knockout matches decided on [[Penalty shoot-out (association football)|penalty kicks]]''</small>

===By match===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left;"
|-
!World Cup
!width=110|Round
!width=150|Opponent
!width=60|Score
!width=50|Result
!width=120|Venue
!Scorers
|-
|rowspan="6" align=center|[[1974 FIFA World Cup|1974]]||rowspan="3"|Group stage||{{fb|AUS}}||align=center|[[1974 FIFA World Cup Group 1#East Germany vs Australia|2–0]]||align=center bgcolor="#bbffbb"|W||[[Hamburg]]||[[Colin Curran|C. Curran]] ([[Own goal#Association football|o.g.]]), [[Joachim Streich|J. Streich]]
|-
|{{fb|CHI}}||align=center|[[1974 FIFA World Cup Group 1#Chile vs East Germany|1–1]]||align=center bgcolor="#ffffbb"|D||[[Berlin]]||[[Martin Hoffmann (footballer)|M. Hoffmann]]
|-
|{{fb|West Germany}}||align=center|[[1974 FIFA World Cup Group 1#East Germany vs West Germany|1–0]]||align=center bgcolor="#bbffbb"|W||[[Hamburg]]||[[Jürgen Sparwasser|J. Sparwasser]]
|-
|rowspan="3"|Second round||{{fb|BRA|1968}}||align=center|[[1974 FIFA World Cup Group A#Brazil vs East Germany|0–1]]||align=center bgcolor="#ffbbbb"|L||[[Hanover]]||{{sort dash}}
|-
|{{fb|NED}}||align=center|[[1974 FIFA World Cup Group A#East Germany vs Netherlands|0–2]]||align=center bgcolor="#ffbbbb"|L||[[Gelsenkirchen]]||{{sort dash}}
|-
|{{fb|ARG}}||align=center|[[1974 FIFA World Cup Group A#Argentina vs East Germany|1–1]]||align=center bgcolor="#ffffbb"|D||[[Gelsenkirchen]]||[[Joachim Streich|J. Streich]]
|-
|}

=== Record by opponent ===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!colspan=7|FIFA World Cup matches (by team)
|-
!Opponent
!Wins
!Draws
!Losses
!Total
!Goals Scored
!Goals Conceded
|-
|align="left"|{{fb|Argentina}}||0||1||0||1||1||1
|-
|align="left"|{{fb|Australia}}||1||0||0||1||2||0
|-
|align="left"|{{fb|Brazil}}||0||0||1||1||0||1
|-
|align="left"|{{fb|Chile}}||0||1||0||1||1||1
|-
|align="left"|{{fb|Netherlands}}||0||0||1||1||0||2
|-
|align="left"|{{fb|West Germany}}||1||0||0||1||1||0
|}

==East Germany at 1974 World Cup==

{{East Germany Squad 1974 World Cup}}

===First Round, Group 1===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!width=165|Team
!width=20|{{abbr|Pld|Matches played}}
!width=20|{{abbr|W|Matches won}}
!width=20|{{abbr|D|Matches drawn}}
!width=20|{{abbr|L|Matches lost}}
!width=20|{{abbr|GF|Goals for}}
!width=20|{{abbr|GA|Goals against}}
!width=20|{{abbr|GD|Goal difference}}
!width=20|{{abbr|Pts|Points}}
|- bgcolor="#ccffcc"
|align="left"|{{fb|GDR}}
|3||2||1||0||4||1||+3||'''5'''
|- bgcolor="#ccffcc"
|align="left"|{{fb|West Germany}}
|3||2||0||1||4||1||+3||'''4'''
|-
|align="left"|{{fb|CHI}}
|3||0||2||1||1||2||&minus;1||'''2'''
|-
|align="left"|{{fb|AUS}}
|3||0||1||2||0||5||&minus;5||'''1'''
|}

{{football box
|date = 14 June 1974
|time = 19:30 [[Central European Time|CET]]
|team1 = {{fb-rt|GDR}}
|score = 2 &ndash; 0
|report = [https://web.archive.org/web/20071018145508/http://fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=39/results/matches/match=1955/report.html Report]
|team2 = {{fb|AUS}}
|goals1 = [[Colin Curran|Curran]] {{goal|58|o.g.}}<br />[[Joachim Streich|Streich]] {{goal|72}}
|stadium = [[AOL Arena|Volksparkstadion]], [[Hamburg]]
|attendance = 10,000
|referee = [[Youssou N'Diaye]] ([[Senegalese Football Federation|Senegal]])
}}
----
{{football box
|date = 18 June 1974
|time = 19:30 [[Central European Time|CET]]
|team1 = {{fb-rt|CHI}}
|score = 1 &ndash; 1
|report = [https://web.archive.org/web/20090122194524/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition%3D39/results/matches/match%3D2004/report.html Report]
|team2 = {{fb|GDR}}
|goals1 = [[Sergio Ahumada|Ahumada]] {{goal|69}}
|goals2 = [[Martin Hoffmann (footballer)|Hoffmann]] {{goal|55}}
|stadium = [[Olympic Stadium (Berlin)|Olympiastadion]], [[West Berlin]]
|attendance = 20,000
|referee = [[Aurelio Angonese]] ([[Italian Football Federation|Italy]])
}}
----
{{football box
|date = 22 June 1974
|time = 19:30 [[Central European Time|CET]]
|team1 = {{fb-rt|GDR}}
|score = 1 &ndash; 0
|report = [https://web.archive.org/web/20131202224255/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition%3D39/results/matches/match%3D2062/report.html Report]
|team2 = {{fb|West Germany}}
|goals1 = [[Jürgen Sparwasser|Sparwasser]] {{goal|77}}
|stadium = [[AOL Arena|Volksparkstadion]], [[Hamburg]]
|attendance = 60,350
|referee = [[Ramón Barreto]] ([[Uruguayan Football Association|Uruguay]])
}}

===Second Round, Group A===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!width=165|Team
!width=20|{{abbr|Pld|Matches played}}
!width=20|{{abbr|W|Matches won}}
!width=20|{{abbr|D|Matches drawn}}
!width=20|{{abbr|L|Matches lost}}
!width=20|{{abbr|GF|Goals for}}
!width=20|{{abbr|GA|Goals against}}
!width=20|{{abbr|GD|Goal difference}}
!width=20|{{abbr|Pts|Points}}
|- bgcolor="#ccffcc"
|align="left"|{{fb|NED}}
|3||3||0||0||8||0||+8||'''6'''
|- bgcolor="#ffffcc"
|align="left"|{{fb|BRA|1968}}
|3||2||0||1||3||3||0||'''4'''
|-
|align="left"|{{fb|GDR}}
|3||0||1||2||1||4||&minus;3||'''1'''
|-
|align="left"|{{fb|ARG|alt}}
|3||0||1||2||2||7||&minus;5||'''1'''
|}

{{football box
|date = 26 June 1974
|time = 19:30 [[Central European Time|CET]]
|team1 = {{fb-rt|BRA|1968}}
|score = 1 &ndash; 0
|report = [https://web.archive.org/web/20110721174903/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition%3D39/results/matches/match%3D1982/report.html Report]
|team2 = {{fb|GDR}}
|goals1 = [[Rivellino]] {{goal|60}}
|stadium = [[Niedersachsenstadion]], [[Hanover]]
|attendance = 58,463
|referee = [[Clive Thomas (football)|Clive Thomas]] ([[Football Association of Wales|Wales]])
}}
----
{{football box
|date = 30 June 1974
|time = 16:00 [[Central European Time|CET]]
|team1 = {{fb-rt|GDR}}
|score = 0 &ndash; 2
|report = [https://web.archive.org/web/20110721174915/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition%3D39/results/matches/match%3D2067/report.html Report]
|team2 = {{fb|NED}}
|goals2 = [[Johan Neeskens|Neeskens]] {{goal|13}}<br/>[[Rob Rensenbrink|Rensenbrink]] {{goal|59}}
|stadium = [[Parkstadion]], [[Gelsenkirchen]]
|attendance = 67,148
|referee = [[Rudolf Scheurer]] ([[Swiss Football Association|Switzerland]])
}}
----
{{football box
|date = 3 July 1974
|time = 19:30 [[Central European Time|CET]]
|team1 = {{fb-rt|ARG|alt}}
|score = 1 &ndash; 1
|report = [https://web.archive.org/web/20110721174907/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition%3D39/results/matches/match%3D1946/report.html Report]
|team2 = {{fb|GDR}}
|goals1 = [[René Houseman|Houseman]] {{goal|20}}
|goals2 = [[Joachim Streich|Streich]] {{goal|14}}
|stadium = [[Parkstadion]], [[Gelsenkirchen]]
|attendance = 53,054
|referee = [[Jack Taylor (referee)|Jack Taylor]] ([[The Football Association|England]])
}}

==Record players==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: left;"
|-
!Rank
!Player
!Matches
|-
|rowspan=6 align=center|1
|[[Bernd Bransch]]||align=center|6
|-
|[[Jürgen Croy]]||align=center|6
|-
|[[Martin Hoffmann (footballer)|Martin Hoffmann]]||align=center|6
|-
|[[Gerd Kische]]||align=center|6
|-
|[[Jürgen Sparwasser]]||align=center|6
|-
|[[Konrad Weise]]||align=center|6
|-
|rowspan=5 align=center|7
|[[Harald Irmscher]]||align=center|4
|-
|[[Lothar Kurbjuweit]]||align=center|4
|-
|[[Wolfram Löwe]]||align=center|4
|-
|[[Joachim Streich]]||align=center|4
|-
|[[Siegmar Wätzlich]]||align=center|4
|}

==Top goalscorers==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: left;"
|-
!Rank
!Player
!Goals
|-
|align=center|1||[[Joachim Streich]]||align=center|2
|-
|rowspan=2 align=center|2
|[[Martin Hoffmann (footballer)|Martin Hoffmann]]||align=center|1
|-
|[[Jürgen Sparwasser]]||align=center|1
|}

{{Countries at the FIFA World Cup}}

[[Category:East Germany at the FIFA World Cup| ]]
[[Category:Countries at the FIFA World Cup]]
[[Category:East Germany national football team|World Cup]]