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Germany boasts one of the most successful national football teams in the world,
with three World Cup victories under its belt behind Italy with four and Brazil
with five. The German national football team - the Deutscher
Fußball-Bund (DFB) - was founded in 1900 in Leipzig by representatives from 86
clubs.
However, only in April 1908 did the German national football team play its first
official match against Switzerland, which resulted in a 5-3 victory for the
Swiss team. Although missing out on the inaugural World Cup in 1930 due to financial
constraints, Germany finished third in the 1934 World Cup in Italy.
Germany did not fare well in the 1938 World Cup and after World War II and
Germany's subsequent surrender, the country was banned from international
football competitions until 1950. However, then known as West Germany, it was
allowed to compete internationally by the 1954 World Cup.
Ironically, the West German football team won that year's World Cup in
Switzerland by beating Hungary by 3-2 in the final. Germany's second World
Cup victory came about in 1974 when (West) Germany hosted the event and beat the
Netherlands by 2-1, and most recently in 1990 in Italy, when it beat Argentina
by 1-0.
When the Berlin wall came down in 1989, a new united Germany was formed as was a
new united German national football team. Over the years Germany has
produced some excellent players including Jürgen Klinsmann, Franz Beckenbauer,
Rudi Völler, Miroslav Klose, Andreas Möller and Torsten Frings.
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