Germany–Italy football rivalry

The national football teams of Germany and Italy, two of the most successful football nations in Europe and in the world, are long-time rivals. Between them they have achieved seven World Cup victories and a total of twelve appearances in the final of the tournament (out of 19) – as many as all the other European nations combined. They have played against each other five times in the World Cup, and most of these matches have been notable in the history of the tournament. The Jahrhundertspiel, or "Game of the Century", a 1970 semi-final between the two countries that ended 4-3, was so dramatic that the Estadio Azteca in Mexico commemorated it with a plaque at the entrance.

Italy is dominant in the head-to-head international matchup, having beaten Germany 15 times in 32 games (10 draws).^[1] Added to the negative record, the Germans have never been able to defeat Italy in a major tournament.

List of matches

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Number	Date	Location	Competition	Game	Results
01	January 1, 1923	Milan (Italy)	Friendly	Italy - Germany	3 – 1
02	November 23, 1924	Duisburg (Germany)	Friendly	Germany - Italy	0 – 1
03	April 28, 1929	Turin (Italy)	Friendly	Italy - Germany	1 - 2
04	March 2, 1930	Frankfurt (Germany)	Friendly	Germany - Italy	0 – 2
05	January 1, 1933	Bologna (Italy)	Friendly	Italy - Germany	3 - 1
06	November 15, 1936	Berlin (Germany)	Friendly	Germany - Italy	1 – 1
07	March 26, 1939	Florence (Italy)	Friendly	Italy - Germany	3 - 2
08	November 26, 1939	Berlin (Germany)	Friendly	Germany - Italy	5 – 2
09	May 5, 1940	Milan (Italy)	Friendly	Italy - Germany	3 - 2
10	March 30, 1955	Stuttgart (Germany)	Friendly	Germany - Italy	1 – 2
11	December 18, 1955	Rome (Italy)	Friendly	Italy - Germany	2 - 1
12	May 31, 1962	Santiago (Chile)	World Cup	Italy - Germany	0 - 0
13	March 13, 1965	Hamburg (Germany)	Friendly	Germany - Italy	1 – 1
14	June 17, 1970	Mexico City (Mexico)	World Cup	Italy - Germany	4 - 3
15	February 26, 1974	Rome (Italy)	Friendly	Italy - Germany	0 - 0
16	October 8, 1977	Berlin (Germany)	Friendly	Germany - Italy	2 – 1
17	June 14, 1978	Buenos Aires (Argentina)	World Cup	Italy - Germany	0 - 0
18	July 11, 1982	Madrid (Spain)	World Cup	Italy - Germany	3 - 1
19	May 22, 1984	Zürich (Switzerland)	Friendly	Germany - Italy	1 – 0
20	February 5, 1986	Avellino (Italy)	Friendly	Italy - Germany	1 - 2
21	April 18, 1987	Koln (Germany)	Friendly	Germany - Italy	0 – 0
22	June 10, 1988	Düsseldorf (Germany)	European Championship	Germany - Italy	1 – 1
23	March 25, 1992	Turin (Italy)	Friendly	Italy - Germany	1 - 0
24	March 23, 1994	Stuttgart (Germany)	Friendly	Germany - Italy	2 – 1
25	June 21, 1995	Zurich (Switzerland)	Friendly	Germany - Italy	2 – 0
26	June 19, 1996	Manchester (England)	European Championship	Germany - Italy	0 – 0
27	August 20, 2003	Stuttgart (Germany)	Friendly	Germany - Italy	0 - 1
28	March 1, 2006	Florence (Italy)	Friendly	Italy - Germany	4 - 1
29	July 4, 2006	Dortmund (Germany)	World Cup	Italy - Germany	2 - 0
30	February 9, 2011	Dortmund (Germany)	Friendly	Germany - Italy	1 – 1
31	June 28, 2012	Warsaw (Poland)	European Championship	Germany - Italy	1 – 2
32	November 15, 2013	Milan (Italy)	Friendly	Italy - Germany	1 - 1

Major tournaments

1962 World Cup

1970 World Cup

1978 World Cup

1982 World Cup

1988 UEFA European Football Championship

1996 UEFA European Football Championship

2006 World Cup

This was the semi-final match played in Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, in front of a crowd of 65000 on 4 July 2006. Two late goals in the closing period of extra-time by Fabio Grosso and Alessandro Del Piero saw Italy advanced to the final which they eventually won. Andrea Pirlo was the man of the match. Germany national team had never lost a game in Westfalenstadion prior to this match.

The rivalry had been inflamed by the Italians' role which resulted in the suspension of midfielder Torsten Frings, who had been a major contributor to the national side during that tournament.^{[citation needed]} Germany had defeated Argentina in the quarter-finals via a penalty shootout, and the end of that match had saw a brawl break out between members of both teams. FIFA already announced that it had closed its investigation against the German players, as the Argentinians had been the insigators and punished accordingly. However the Italian media sent video footage to FIFA of Frings punching Argentine forward Julio Cruz. FIFA's Disciplinary Committee examined the video evidence and concluded that Frings had been provoked into fighting, levelling a two-game suspension (the second game of the suspension was made probationary) accordingly, even though Cruz himself had denied that Frings punched him.^{[citation needed]} This decision, announced by FIFA only the day before Germany's semi-final versus Italy on 4 July 2006, rendered Frings unavailable for the important match. Frings answered to the accusations in an interview: "This is all politics. The Argentinians attack us, I defend myself and the Italians get worked up. With this suspension, FIFA just wanted to show that Germany doesn't get special treatment as the World Cup hosts."^{[citation needed]}

2012 UEFA European Football Championship

Italy met Germany in the semi-final match of EURO 2012 in the evening of 28 June 2012 at National Stadium of Warsaw. Prior to this match, Germany had set a historic record of world football with 15 consecutive wins in competitive matches, which included all matches of Euro 2012 and its qualifying stage. In the 20th minute, Italian striker Mario Balotelli scored the first goal for Italy after receiving an excellent chipped cross from Antonio Cassano. Then in the 36th minute, Mario Balotelli scored again for Italy, giving them a secure lead. In the second half, the Germans were not able to penetrate the Italian defence. Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon made several brilliant saves to deny German goal attempts. With 2 minutes into added time, Italian defender Federico Balzaretti committed a handball inside the penalty box. The resulting penalty was taken by Mesut Özil, the German mid-fielder, who successfully scored a consolation goal. Thus the final score was 2-1 to Italy, who qualified for the final of the tournament, against defending champions Spain, on 1 July 2012 at Olimpiyskyi, Kiev in Ukraine. As in their previous encounter in World Cup 2006 Semi-Final match, Andrea Pirlo was again elected the man of the match.

Statistics

Overall

includes matches against former West Germany

• Total number of games: 32
• Germany wins: 7
• Draws: 10
• Italy wins: 15

See also

• Germany–Italy relations
• List of association football rivalries

References

External links

• List of matches between Italy and Germany at European Football national team matches