Germany–Italy football rivalry

Commemorative plaque at Estadio Azteca (Mexico City) for the Game of the Century.

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. On the overall, the two teams have achieved eight World Cup victories and a total of fourteen appearances in the final of the tournament – more than 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 Partita del secolo / Jahrhundertspiel, or "Game of the Century", a 1970 semi-final between the two countries that Italy won 4–3, was so dramatic that it is commemorated by a plaque at the entrance of the Estadio Azteca in Mexico.

As of July 2014, Italy is largely dominant in the head-to-head international matchup, having beaten Germany 15 times in 32 games (with 10 draws and 7 defeats).[1] Moreover, the German team has never been able to defeat Italy in a competitive game, with all Germany's wins over Italy obtained in friendly games. The last victory for Germany was on the 21st of June 1995 in Zurich, with the final result 2–0.

There were also four matches played between Italy and East Germany which resulted 1 win for each country and 2 draws.

The two teams also faced once in the Olympic Games: in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, West Germany defeated Italy 3–0 on the bronze medal match.[2]

The last meeting ended 1–1 in Milan on the 15th of November 2013.

List of matches

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

Major tournaments

1982 World Cup

For more information, see 1982 FIFA World Cup Final.

2006 World Cup

This was the semi-final match played in Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, in front of a crowd of 65000 on 4 July 2006. Until then, the Westfalenstadion had been a fortress-like stadium for the German national team as Germany had never lost there. During an eventful and highly entertaining game, this record was broken when two late goals in the closing period of extra-time by Fabio Grosso and Alessandro Del Piero saw Italy advance to the final. Italy would go on to win the 2006 FIFA World Cup for a 4th time. Andrea Pirlo was named man of the match after a commanding performance and for the assist leading to the Italians first goal.

2012 UEFA European Football Championship

Italy met again 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. However, also this record was to be broken by Italy on that day. In the 20th minute, Italian striker Mario Balotelli scored the first goal for Italy after receiving an excellently chipped cross from Antonio Cassano, then in the 36th minute, Balotelli scored again for Italy, giving them a secure lead. In the second half, the Germans were not able to penetrate the Italian defence decisively, and Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon made several brilliant saves to deny some 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

See also

References

  1. ↑ Germany – Italy (Head-To-Head) at FIFA.com
  2. ↑ THE SEOUL GAMES : Roundup : West German Soccer Team Wins Bronze

External links