Germanys Top 10 Wins in World Cup History Germany 1-0 Argentina - Yahoo Sports thumbnail

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - JULY 13: Mario Goetze of Germany (L) celebrates scoring his team's first goal with Thomas Mueller during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Final match between Germany and Argentina at Maracana on July 13, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images) | Getty Images — RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – JULY 13: Mario Goetze of Germany (L) celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with Thomas Mueller during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Final match between Germany and Argentina at Maracana on July 13, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images) | Getty Images

What is up, people of the internet? So, you may know that the World Cup is just around the corner and we here at BFW are putting together a series of articles about Germany in the build-up to the tournament itself. Teddy is already working on the top 10 goals that Germany has scored in World Cup history, so I proposed an idea that we should relive the best wins that Die Mannschaft has experienced. Which is why I’m here to introduce my top 10 Germany wins at the World Cup.

For this, I’m going to include matches that I know and watched in person (live, on the TV, haven’t got the facilities to watch Germany live in the stadium yet) and I will also rank each match based on how special the match is to me.

This is it, the 2014 World Cup Final. Against Argentina. Germany faced them in the 1990 Final (as West Germany) and won 1-0, while Argentina hadn’t won the World Cup since 1986, beating (you guessed it) West Germany 3-2. There were high expectations for Germany, because beating host nation Brazil 7-1 in the semifinal wasn’t a fluke. Despite that defeat, Germany had the support of Brazil because Germany had shown respect after the 7-1 defeat and because of the Brazil-Argentina rivalry. It all boils down to this. The final hurdle in the quest for World Cup glory. Christoph Kramer made a surprise start in midfield after a last-minute injury to Sami Khedira in the warm-up prior to kickoff.

The match kicked off in front of over 70,000 spectators as both teams began the battle for the last step in winning a World Cup for the first time in over 20 years. Gonzalo Higuaín had the first real chance of the game after just three minutes when he beat Jérôme Boateng on the left-hand side and fired a low shot across the face of goal that went wide. Lionel Messi also sped past another German center-back, Mats Hummels, but his cutback couldn’t find a teammate, with Germany clearing the ball. The diminutive Argentine tried twice more but couldn’t get away with anything.

After just over 20 minutes played, Toni Kroos misjudged a header which allowed Higuaín a 1v1 situation with Neuer. The Argentine striker fired wide, a brief reprieve for Germany. Bastian Schweinsteiger spotted Miroslav Klose making a run and lobbed the ball over the top, but he overcooked it which meant Sergio Romero collected the ball safely. Higuaín later thought he scored the opening goal in the final from a cross by Ezequiel Lavezzi and celebrated wildly, before finding out that the linesman raised his flag. He didn’t forget 2010, apparently.

Kramer soon collapsed on the pitch, with a collision with Argentine defender Ezequiel Garay catching up to him, so he had to be substituted; André Schürrle took his place. Messi soon broke into the German box and already beat Neuer but had no support, allowing Boateng to clear the ball off the line. Kroos had an attempt saved by Romero before Klose mistakenly let Thomas Müller’s cross go free. Benedikt Höwedes later slammed his headed attempt off the post, and that’s Höw it stayed until half-time.

Sergio Agüero was brought on in place of Lavezzi, which was the only change made at the half by either side. Argentina came out guns blazing after the restart as they had several chances to score, but each one came to nothing. Klose, Özil, and Schürrle all had their respective chances too, but none of them could capitalize. Messi tried curling one but shot wide. Extra time was just around the corner if neither side could score, and that is exactly what happened. One little thing though, Germany said, as Joachim Löw and Hansi Flick brought on Mario Götze for Miroslav Klose just before the end of the 90 minutes.

Schürrle had a glorious opportunity to score just after the restart, but Romero had other ideas as he palmed the ball away and none of the follow up attempts came through. Rodrigo Palacio capitalized on a mistake from the German defence but lobbed his effort over Neuer and the goal for a goal kick. In the second half of extra time, Schürrle ran down the left as Götze drifted inside to the middle. Schürrle crossed it to Götze, who controlled the ball with his chest and volleyed the ball past Romero. It felt as if time stopped. Then, the explosion came, from the fans and the players, as they all went berserk after Germany went 1-0 up with just a few minutes left before the end of extra time. The German bench drained as all the players swarmed the goalscorer. The Bayern Munich man might’ve just won the match for Germany. Surely the World Cup is theirs now!

Palacio’s header and Messi’s last-minute freekick went wide of the target, and that confirmed Germany’s triumph at the 2014 World Cup. The first European World Cup winners in South America, a 24-year wait gone. Eight years of hard work paid off, and it culminated in the highest honor of international football. Germany proved to be the best team in the tournament, and there was no doubt they would win it all.

That ends this series of Germany’s top 10 World Cup wins. Twelve years on, Germany isn’t the same as that 2014 team but there’s always room for improvement. By Euro 2028 or the 2030 World Cup, Germany will be a much better team than it is now in 2026. You heard it here first.