# East Germany at the FIFA World Cup

After the division of Germany in 1949, West Germany was declared Germany's official successor team. East Germany was accepted as a FIFA member only in 1952 and entered the qualification tournament for the first time for 1958, but finished last in their qualification group behind Czechoslovakia and Wales.
They appeared in the finals of the FIFA World Cup on one occasion in 1974. During the tournament they played 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

| FIFA World Cup finals record | FIFA World Cup finals record | FIFA World Cup finals record | FIFA World Cup finals record | FIFA World Cup finals record | FIFA World Cup finals record | FIFA World Cup finals record | FIFA World Cup finals record | FIFA World Cup finals record | FIFA World Cup finals record | Qualifications record | Qualifications record | Qualifications record | Qualifications record | Qualifications record | Qualifications record | Qualifications record |
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Squad | Pos | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| 1954 | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1958 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 3rd | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 12 |
| 1962 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 3rd | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 1966 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 2nd | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| 1970 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 2nd | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7 |
| 1974 | Quarter-finals | 6th | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | Squad | 1st | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 3 |
| 1978 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 2nd | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 4 |
| 1982 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 2nd | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 6 |
| 1986 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 3rd | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 9 |
| 1990 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 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 |
    *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks

### By match

| World Cup | Round | Opponent | Score | Result | Venue | Scorers |
| 1974 | Group stage | Australia | 2–0 | W | Hamburg | C. Curran (o.g.), J. Streich |
| 1974 | Group stage | Chile | 1–1 | D | Berlin | M. Hoffmann |
| 1974 | Group stage | West Germany | 1–0 | W | Hamburg | J. Sparwasser |
| 1974 | Second round | Brazil | 0–1 | L | Hanover | — |
| 1974 | Second round | Netherlands | 0–2 | L | Gelsenkirchen | — |
| 1974 | Second round | Argentina | 1–1 | D | Gelsenkirchen | J. Streich |

### Record by opponent

FIFA World Cup matches (by team) :
| Opponent | Wins | Draws | Losses | Total | Goals Scored | Goals Conceded |
| Argentina | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Australia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Brazil | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Chile | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Netherlands | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| West Germany | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |

## East Germany at 1974 World Cup
### First Round, Group 1

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| East Germany | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 5 |
| West Germany | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 4 |
| Chile | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 2 |
| Australia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 1 |

### Second Round, Group A

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Netherlands | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | +8 | 6 |
| Brazil | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| East Germany | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 1 |
| Argentina | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 1 |

## Record players

| Rank | Player | Matches |
| 1 | Bernd Bransch | 6 |
| 1 | Jürgen Croy | 6 |
| 1 | Martin Hoffmann | 6 |
| 1 | Gerd Kische | 6 |
| 1 | Jürgen Sparwasser | 6 |
| 1 | Konrad Weise | 6 |
| 7 | Harald Irmscher | 4 |
| 7 | Lothar Kurbjuweit | 4 |
| 7 | Wolfram Löwe | 4 |
| 7 | Joachim Streich | 4 |
| 7 | Siegmar Wätzlich | 4 |

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Goals |
| 1 | Joachim Streich | 2 |
| 2 | Martin Hoffmann | 1 |
| 2 | Jürgen Sparwasser | 1 |