Football from behind the wall - A look at East German football part 3

The concluding part in my look into football in East Germany is shifting away from club football and we are now focused on the national team.

On the 6th February 1951 the Deutscher Fußball Verband der DDR (DFV) applied for FIFA Membership. The application was accepted 8 months later, but was protested by the Deutscher Fußball Bund. The DVF became full FIFA members on 24th July 1952.

GDR's first game would be played on 21st September of the same year, a friendly against Soviet Union occupied Poland in Warsaw. With Poland running out 3-0 winners. They wouldn't play there first home game until 14th June 1953, a 0-0 draw with Bulgaria in Dresden. 3 days later mass protesting and strike action across East Germany put a stop to football, mainly because the assembly of mass crowds was not permitted.


International football returned in 1954, with a 1-0 defeat to Romania, this would be the last time a  East German side will be selected this way, and a new radical way of selecting your country's best XI. They would choose on ability.


After West Germany's triumph in the 1954 World Cup, The DFV responded by abolishing the policy of presenting a group of socialist role models, and tried to qualify for the 1958 World Cup in Sweeden. They were in group 4 with Wales and Czechoslovakia. They finished bottom of the group, recording their first competative victory, a 2-1 victory over Wales infront of 100'000 people in Leipzig.


East Germany only qualified for one World Cup, the 1974 finals held in the west...

East Germany line up for their first World Cup against Australia

The draw for the group stage put East and West Germany together in group 1 with Australia and Chile. The East beat Australia 2-0 and drew with Chile 1-1. The West posted better results beating Australia 3-0 and Chile 1-0. Which set up the clash between the sides seperated by the Berlin wall perfectly.


22nd June 1974 the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg was the stadium staging the match up between the torn nation. 60'350 fans filling the ground. The free world -vs- socialism. Game on.

Franz Beckenbauer (r) shaking the hand of East Germany captain Bernd  Bransch

Both teams had qualified for the second group stage, West Germany just needed a draw to finish top of the group, East Germany needed to do the unthinkable and win. Emotions were high. There had not been a more politically charged game like this before. on 77 minutes GOAL Jürgen Sparwasser putting the DDR in the lead and that is where they would say. The East are estatic, getting one over the neighbours. The West were embarrassed, humiliated on the biggest stage of all.

In the end up the defeat helped West Germany, as a 2nd place finish made sure they had an easier path to the final, and a change on the pitch made sure they won the World Cup for the 2nd time in their history. The East had to play Brazil, Argentina and eventual runners-up Holland, finishing 3rd picking up a point in their last game, a 1-1 draw with Argentina. This would be the last game East Germany would play at a World Cup.

The East German's would see success in other football tournaments. They won 3 Olympic medals in 2 consecutive Olympiad's Bronze in 1972 Munich (shared with Soviet Union) Gold in Montreal 76 beating Poland 3-1 in the final, and Silver in Moscow 80, losing 2-0 to Czechoslovakia. They were also runners up in the 1974 UEFA under 23's championship, and were losing finalists in the 1978 and 1980 UEFA under 21's championships.

East Germany never qualified for another tournament, but were strong in qualifying. Their last 2 campaigns (Euro 88 and World Cup 90) they missed out on qualification by 2 points. By the time the wall was down and  Germany was unified, The draw for the Euro 92 qualification had already been made. They were due to face Belgium, Wales, Luxembourg and for the first time since 74. West Germany. No East Germany, no football team. 


It was too late to cancel the trip to Brussels, so East Germany played Belgium as a friendly. Only 3 established East German internationals were made available, Matthias Sammer, Joerg Stuebner and Detlef Schoessler. The rest of squad had only 10 caps between them. East Germany went out with a bang. Beating the Belgians 2-0, Sammer scoring both goals.

The last East Germany team assembled bid farewell to the footballing world.

After the match, the team celebrated their final match, then headed back to a unified Germany to launch a new chapter in their footballing careers.

In 39 years of GDR international football history, 273 players earned their international caps, but many fans would be hard-pressed to name some of the biggest stars such as Jürgen Sparwasser with 53 caps, or Joachim Streich - who is both the most capped and greatest goalscorer in East German football history (102 caps/55 goals).

In all there were 293 games (138 won, 69 drawn and 86 lost), and Sammer's goals in Belgium were the 500th and 501st respectively.