How a jumbled Germany rediscovered their mojo

The parallels felt uncanny. A Germany team at its lowest ebb for years, having been dispatched ignominiously from the group stages of two of the three previous tournaments, and after ditching one manager and parachuting in another, were the hosts with the low expectations.

- RICHARD JOLLY

If the 2006 World Cup came to symbolise a national footballing rebirth for Germany, surprise semi-finalists who played endearingly attacking football with a likeable bunch of players, it seemed as though the best-case scenario was for a repeat of sorts in Euro 2024. But further embarrassment started to look more probable.

Because the 2022 World Cup brought an early exit as in 2018, with the ultimate Turniermannschaft discovering the tournament would go on without them. And arguably 2023 was still worse; only partly because of the release of the Amazon documentary of the World Cup campaign in which Hansi Flick tried to motivate his players by comparing them to geese. It wasn’t the major reason why Flick became the first Germany manager to be sacked but it did contribute to rendering him a lame duck.

On the pitch, 2023 brought defeats to Belgium, Poland, Colombia and Japan, a 4-1 loss in Wolfsburg ending Flick’s reign; then, under new manager Julian Nagelsmann, Germany lost to Turkey and Austria. They had been beaten six times in a year; as West Germany, they only lost three times across 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1990.