Germany Olympic football team

Germany Olympic
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Nationalelf (national eleven)
DFB-Elf (DFB Eleven)
(Die) Mannschaft (The Team)[1]
AssociationGerman Football Association
(Deutscher Fußball-Bund – DFB)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Most capsChristian Schreier (22)
Top scorerGottfried Fuchs
Frank Mill (10 goals each)
FIFA codeGER
First colours
Second colours
First international
 Austria 5–1 Germany 
(Stockholm, Sweden; 29 June 1912)
Biggest win
 Germany 16–0 Russian Empire 
(Stockholm, Sweden; 1 July 1912)[2]
Biggest defeat
 Austria 5–1 Germany 
(Stockholm, Sweden; 29 June 1912)
Summer Olympic Games
Appearances10[a] (first in 1912)
Best result Silver Medal (2016)

The Germany Olympic football team represents Germany in international football competitions in Olympic Games. It has been active since 1908, and first competed in 1912.

Olympic football was originally an amateur sport, and as the pre-World War II German national team was also amateur, it was able to send a full national team to the games. After the war, Germany was divided, but until 1964 East and West competed under the name of "United Team of Germany", although without a combined squad. From 1968 West Germany began to compete on its own, but were still forced to send an amateur team, who were not able to match the success of their professional counterparts in the World Cup and European Championship. East Germany won gold in 1976 and silver in 1980.

The rules on amateurism were relaxed in the 1980s, which allowed West Germany some success, notably a bronze medal finish in 1988. Since 1992 the tournament has been competed by under-23 teams, making Germany's Olympic qualification dependent on the results of the under-21 team. Only in 2016 the Germans returned to the Olympic stage, with a silver medal after losing on a penalty shoot-out to hosts Brazil.

  1. ^ In Germany, the team is typically referred to as Die Nationalmannschaft (the national team), DFB-Elf (DFB eleven), DFB-Auswahl (DFB selection) or Nationalelf (national eleven). Whereas in foreign media, they are regularly described as (Die) Mannschaft (literally meaning the team).
  2. ^ "All matches of The National Team in 1912". DFB. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2008.


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