Beginnings without a coach (1900-1926)
In the first years the national team had no coach. The line-up of the teams was the result of the proportional representation of the national associations. Invitations to international matches were based less on performance and more on a quota system. The individual national associations were entitled to certain positions. The line-up was decided by the match committee and the team captain determined the tactics at the venue. However, there were hardly any trained coaches at the time. Of their first 58 international matches, the national team won only 16, 12 ended in a draw and 30 were lost, including the highest defeat with 0:9. However, the highest victory was also achieved during this period.
After Felix Linnemann became DFB president in 1925, he ensured that the first coach was hired in Otto Nerz. The German national team is the only national team to have had four national coaches (Herberger, Schön, Vogts and Löw) on the bench in more than 100 international matches and, with only ten national coaches, has far fewer coaches than other national teams.
See also: National coach (DFB)
Otto Mink (1926-1936)
Otto Nerz, an elementary school teacher and doctor from Mannheim who was regarded as consistent and determined, was the first DFB coach. He initially worked part-time from 1926 training players selected by the match committee, worked as a Reich coach in this capacity with full responsibility from 1928 to 1936, and was in charge of the German national team at the 1928 Olympics and the 1934 World Cup in Italy. At this World Cup he finished third with a remarkably young team (average age 23). After the German team's early failure at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Sepp Herberger replaced him as Reich coach. However, the transition between Nerz and Herberger was a smooth one: although Nerz was suspended for the first international match after the Olympic football tournament, in Poland on 13 September 1936, due to its disappointing outcome, and was replaced by his eventual successor Herberger, he was once again in charge of the team at an away match in Czechoslovakia just two weeks later, on 27 September 1936. The German national team played another official international match on the same day in Germany with a completely different team against Luxembourg, where the respective players were again coached by Herberger. In total, the German team played five international matches in September and October 1936, which were counted as the first matches under Sepp Herberger in the statistics of the DFB until 2019. Since Sepp Herberger's official appointment as Reichstrainer did not take place until 2 November 1936, the DFB now counts these five games as Nerz's. According to this new count, the German national team played 75 international matches during the Otto Nerz era, of which 44 ended in a win, 11 in a draw and 20 in defeat.
Sepp Herberger (1936-1942 and 1950-1964)
Sepp Herberger was the second and last coach of the Reich and the first national coach of the DFB. He replaced Nerz after the elimination at the Olympic Games in 1936. Even though he had already coached the German national team twice before, the DFB's revised statistics only consider the international match against Italy on 15 November 1936 as the first match of his tenure. After he took office, the German team remained undefeated for 16 international matches in a row, including the highest victories to date against Denmark (8-0) and Sweden (5-0). At the 1938 World Cup, he had to supplement the German team with players from Austria, which had recently been annexed to the German Reich, on the instructions of the government. The unrehearsed team already failed in the first round against Switzerland, a 1:1 after extra time was followed by a 2:4 defeat in the replay. Nevertheless, Herberger remained in office until 1942, when international matches were suspended due to the war. As Reich coach, he oversaw the national team (according to the new DFB count) 65 times; there were 40 wins, 12 draws and 13 defeats. One of his assistants was Emil Melcher until 1943.
In 1950, Herberger was one of several candidates to become the first national coach of the reestablished DFB. In 1954, he led the DFB team under its captain Fritz Walter to victory in the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland. The surprising 3:2 victory in the final against the highly favoured Hungary is still referred to today as the Miracle of Bern, and Herberger and his team as the Heroes of Bern. At the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, Germany once again managed to reach the semi-finals, finishing fourth; at the 1962 World Cup in Chile, however, Germany was eliminated in the quarter-finals. Herberger coached Germany for 97 games, 52 of which ended in victories, 14 in draws and 31 in defeats. On 9 November 1964, Herberger, who was respectfully called "boss" by the national players, was replaced by Helmut Schön. After his retirement, he was still part of the national team's extended coaching staff at the 1966 World Cup as a "guest of honour". His overall record as national and national coach: 162 international matches, of which 92 wins, 26 draws, 44 defeats. As the DFB counted the last 5 international matches under his predecessor Otto Nerz towards Herberger's tenure until 2019, he was considered to be the national coach with the most international matches for any federation until 2016, with a total of 167 matches (ahead of Morten Olsen, who reached 166 matches as Denmark's national coach, and thus now ahead of Herberger according to the revised statistics), but was then surpassed by Uruguayan Óscar Tabárez. Current national coach Joachim Löw also surpassed this mark on 13 October 2018, before the revision of the international match statistics, with the 168th international match under his leadership.
Helmut Schön (1964-1978)
Helmut Schön is the most successful national coach in terms of titles. He is the only one to have led the national team to the World Cup and the European Championship. At Schön's first World Cup, in England in 1966, the German national football team was runner-up and came third at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. In 1972 they won the European Football Championship in Belgium and in 1974 at the World Cup in Germany they became football world champions for the second time after 1954. At the European Championship in Yugoslavia in 1976, they were runners-up. In 139 games under Helmut Schön they managed 87 victories with 31 draws and only 21 defeats.
Jupp Derwall (1978-1984)
Jupp Derwall's greatest successes as national coach were winning the 1980 European Football Championship in Italy and finishing second in the 1982 World Cup in Spain. After the early elimination in the preliminary round against Spain at the 1984 European Football Championship, he resigned. In 67 games, his team scored 44 wins, drew twelve times and conceded eleven defeats. Under his aegis, there was the longest series without defeat with 23 games, winning twelve games in a row. Derwall is the only national coach to win a title in his first tournament.
Franz Beckenbauer (1984-1990)
Franz Beckenbauer was unceremoniously appointed team manager for lack of a coaching license. His assistant Horst Köppel initially served as the actual coach, who was replaced by Holger Osieck in 1987. At the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, the German national team was runner-up under Beckenbauer's direction (the DFB team lost 3-2 to Argentina in the final). At the 1988 European Championship on home soil, the national team reached the semi-finals. Two years later, Beckenbauer led the national team to the World Cup title at the 1990 World Cup in Italy. In doing so, he achieved an unprecedented success in Germany: he was both World Cup Champion and runner-up in the World Cup as a player and as team manager. His record as team manager in 66 games: 34 wins, 20 draws and 12 defeats.
Berti Vogts (1990-1998)
Berti Vogts, who had previously been in the service of the DFB since 1979 and was responsible for the German U-21 national team as well as being a member of the coaching staff of the senior national team from 1986, replaced Franz Beckenbauer after the 1990 World Cup. He won the 1996 European Football Championship and was runner-up in 1992. In 102 games, his team won 66 times, drew 24 times and lost only twelve games. Under Vogts, the German team finished joint first in the FIFA World Ranking with Brazil in February 1997. After the 1998 World Cup, in which the team was eliminated in the quarter-finals as it had been four years earlier, he initially remained in office before nevertheless resigning after mediocre performances by the national team at a training course on the island of Malta at the beginning of September 1998 - making the subsequent change of coach to Ribbeck the only handover of the baton at the DFB eleven in the post-war period that did not take place immediately after a tournament.
Berti Vogts is the first national coach to have managed other national teams after Germany (Kuwait, Scotland, Nigeria and, most recently, Azerbaijan), but none of them took part in a World Cup or continental championship finals.
Erich Ribbeck (1998-2000)
Erich Ribbeck, who had already been considered a serious candidate to succeed Jupp Derwall in 1984, but who had already retired by then, succeeded Berti Vogts. But he was replaced by Rudi Völler after the team's first-round exit at the 2000 European Championship, the worst performance by a German national team at a major tournament since 1984. During Ribbeck's tenure, in which he was assisted first by Uli Stielike and since May 2000 by Horst Hrubesch, 24 matches were played, the lowest number of all previous national coaches. In the process, the German side recorded ten wins, six draws and eight defeats, making Ribbeck the only Reich or Bundestrainer to win less than half of the international matches under his leadership. He was also the only national coach not to take part in a World Cup.
Rudi Völler (2000-2004)
Rudi Völler became team manager in 2000. Michael Skibbe assisted him as the actual national coach. Originally, Völler was intended as a temporary solution; he was only supposed to coach the national team for one year because the designated new national coach Christoph Daum was still contractually bound to Bayer 04 Leverkusen for one season, which in turn had been Völler's decision as Bayer's sports director. However, after Daum was deemed unacceptable due to his drug use, Völler remained team manager. Under his leadership, the national team surprisingly became runners-up at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan. After the German team was eliminated in the preliminary round of the 2004 European Championship, Völler announced his resignation on 24 June 2004. In 53 games he managed 29 victories with eleven draws and 13 defeats. He is still remembered for his angry speech on 6 September 2003 after the European Championship qualifying match against Iceland, as well as the frequently recurring fan chants of "There is only one Rudi Völler" after the 2002 World Cup.
Jürgen Klinsmann (2004-2006)
Jürgen Klinsmann became coach of the DFB team in 2004. His coaching staff included co-trainer Joachim Löw, goalkeeping coach Andreas Köpke and team manager Oliver Bierhoff. Klinsmann's record: in 34 games, there were 20 wins, eight draws and six defeats. In the run-up to the 2006 World Cup, he came in for criticism (even from some politicians) for his strategy of including more younger players with little match practice in an attacking DFB squad - especially after the 4-1 defeat to Italy on 1 March 2006. He also introduced fitness tests in the team, as a result of which well-known players were released from the squad. The then goalkeeper Oliver Kahn had to give up the position of team captain to Michael Ballack in August 2004. Furthermore, at the 2006 World Cup, Kahn was replaced in goal by Jens Lehmann. At the World Cup, Klinsmann's team, with a refreshing style of play and four wins plus a penalty shootout victory, then advanced to the semifinals, where they lost 2-0 to Italy after extra time. In the third-place match, they defeated Portugal 3-1. Despite the unexpected success, Klinsmann did not renew his expiring contract, announcing his resignation shortly after the tournament ended. He was the first national coach whose team did not have to qualify for a tournament, as Germany qualified for both the 2005 Confed Cup and the 2006 World Cup. Due to his short tenure, he is the first national coach after Sepp Herberger not to take his team to a European Championship. From 2011 to 2016, he coached the United States national football team, with whom he won the CONCACAFGold Cup in 2013 and met Germany in the preliminary round of the 2014 World Cup.
Joachim Löw (since 2006)
Joachim Löw succeeded Jürgen Klinsmann on 1 August 2006 and is currently the national coach with the second longest tenure. He first led the team to the 2008 European Football Championship in Austria and Switzerland, where they reached the final. His contract was initially only until the end of the tournament, but after qualifying for the 2008 European Championships, it was extended until the 2010 World Cup. His assistant was former Bundesliga professional Hansi Flick until the team won the 2014 World Cup.
Löw was the first national coach to start with five victories. His team qualified for the 2008 European Championship earlier than any other before, but suffered its first competitive defeat after successfully qualifying. At Euro 2008, Löw and his team managed to win a European Championship match for the first time since winning the title in 1996 and reached the final, which they lost 1-0 to Spain.
On 10 October 2009, he qualified with the national team for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. There he reached the round of 16 with the German team after wins against Australia and Ghana and a defeat against Serbia, in which England was beaten 4:1. In the quarter-finals, the DFB eleven scored a 4-0 win over Argentina and reached the semi-finals, which, like the European Championship final, were lost 1-0 to Spain. In the final match for third place, Uruguay was beaten 3:2 and the tournament result of 2006 was repeated. The day after, the then Federal President Wulff announced that Löw would be awarded the Federal Cross of Merit.
The team qualified for the Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine for the first time and as the only one with ten victories in ten matches. The three preliminary matches in the tournament were also won in a group of death with the Netherlands, Denmark and Portugal. After a quarter-final win over Greece, which set a new world record of 15 consecutive competitive wins, the team was eliminated in the semi-finals against Italy by a 1-2 score, after which Löw was criticized for the tactical formation.
Following the successful qualification for the 2014 World Cup, which brought Löw level with Helmut Schön in the number of successful European Championship and World Cup qualifiers, Löw's contract was extended until 2016. At the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the national team under Löw first secured group victory and advanced to the final after beating hosts Brazil 7-1 in the semi-finals. On 13 July 2014, they defeated the Argentine national team 1-0 n. V. and became world champions for the fourth time. After the World Cup victory, Germany was ranked first in the FIFA world rankings for the first time in over 17 years.
In October 2014, Thomas Schneider became Löw's new co-coach. On 13 March 2015, Löw extended his contract until 2018. At Hansi Flick's suggestion, Marcus Sorg became the national team's second co-coach from 18 March 2016 for the upcoming European Championship in France. There, Sorg's work pleased Löw so much that he ultimately remained in the coaching team after the tournament.
At the 2016 European Championship, Germany won their group and progressed to the knockout rounds, where they defeated Slovakia by a wide margin before meeting Italy, a team they have never beaten at a tournament. In this quarter-final match on 2 July 2016, the team once again failed to win in regular time or extra time, but they did manage to prevail in a penalty shootout marked by numerous misses, thus knocking Italy directly out of a major tournament for the first time in their history (they had already managed to do so indirectly at the 1996 European Championships, when a 0-0 draw in the final group game of the preliminary round was enough for Germany to win their group and ensure the Italians' elimination). However, they lost 2-0 to France in the semi-finals on 7 July 2016 and were eliminated from the tournament.
In the 141st game under his leadership, he managed to win 94 matches on 11 October 2016, setting Sepp Herberger's record. In the 142nd game of his tenure on 11 November, he then managed the 95th victory, making him the sole record holder.
On 31 October 2016, Löw extended his contract early until 2020.
On 25 June 2017, in the 150th international match of his tenure, the team won for the 100th time under his stewardship and advanced to the semi-finals of the 2017 Confederations Cup with the victory, reaching a tournament semi-final for the sixth time under his aegis - more times than under any of his predecessors. With victory in the final against Chile, he equalled Helmut Schön in the number of finals won.
In qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, the German team managed ten wins in ten matches in a World Cup qualifier for the first time ever. With two draws to end 2017 against England and France, the German national team remained without defeat in a calendar year for the first time in Joachim Löw's tenure and for the first time ever since 1997.
On May 15, 2018, his contract was extended through 2022.
After the elimination in the preliminary round of the 2018 World Cup, the previous co-coach Thomas Schneider moved to the scouting department of the DFB. This means that Marcus Sorg is now the sole co-coach.
On 9 September 2018, he equalled Sepp Herberger's record of 167 caps and became the sole record holder with 168 caps on 13 October 2018.
In the 195 international matches under Joachim Löw so far (as of 15 June 2021), the German team has achieved 123 wins and 39 draws, losing 33 games. These included two defeats and one win against the US, coached by his predecessor, and four victories against the Azerbaijanis, managed by Berti Vogts. Under Löw, the DFB team has played the most World Cup and European Championship qualifying matches: 73 so far (as of 31 March 2021), of which 61 were won and only 5 lost. However, the team under Löw had to qualify again after the 2014 title win, which Herberger (for 1958), Schön (for 1978, furthermore automatically qualified in 1974 as hosts) and Vogts (for 1994) did not have to do.
In early March 2021, Löw announced his voluntary resignation as national coach after the 2021 European Championship.
Hansi Flick (from 2021)
Hansi Flick, who has won two German championships, the DFB Cup, the DFL Super Cup, the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup with FC Bayern Munich in the past year and a half, will become the new national coach after the 2021 European Championship. He signed a contract that includes the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and the 2024 European Championship at home.
