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 final tournament 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 recordQualification recordYearRoundPositionSquad 1930 Part of / Germany Part of / Germany 1934 1938 1950Not a FIFA memberNot a FIFA member 1954Did not enterDid not enter 1958Did not qualify3rd4103512 19623rd301236 19662nd412155 19702nd421177 1974Quarter-finals6th622255Squad1st6501183 1978Did not qualify2nd6330154 19822nd420296 19863rd8503169 19904th8314913TotalSecond group stage 1/10 6 2 2 2 5 5 —–47228178765
By match World CupRoundOpponentScoreResultVenueScorers1974Group stage2–0WHamburgC. Curran (o.g.), J. Streich1–1DBerlinM. Hoffmann1–0WHamburgJ. SparwasserSecond round0–1LHanover0–2LGelsenkirchen1–1DGelsenkirchenJ. Streich
Record by opponent FIFA World Cup matches (by team)OpponentWinsDrawsLossesTotalGoals ScoredGoals Conceded010111100120001101010111001102100110
East Germany at 1974 World Cup
First Round, Group 1 Team321041+35320141+34302112−12301205−51
Second Round, Group A Team330080+8632013304301214−31301227−51
Record players RankPlayerMatches1Bernd Bransch6Jürgen Croy6Martin Hoffmann6Gerd Kische6Jürgen Sparwasser6Konrad Weise67Harald Irmscher4Lothar Kurbjuweit4Wolfram Löwe4Joachim Streich4Siegmar Wätzlich4
Top goalscorers RankPlayerGoals1Joachim Streich22Martin Hoffmann1Jürgen Sparwasser1
Notes
References