Germany 1994-96 Home
Germany 2006-07 Home
The best of an iconic Adidas template. We have the German flag and DFB logo in the collar, with the diamonds pattern similarly in flag colours. To add to that, not only is the diamonds pattern a great concept, but we have a sort of fade away effect that helps the colour transition stay less sharp. Not only do we also have DFB logos on the sleeves but the entire fabric of the shirt is tiled with them in a jacquard pattern. Yes, the rear of the shirt isn’t particularly interesting, but overall there’s really not a lot to complain about!
Most famously used at the 1994 World Cup, Germany entered the tournament as defending champions. Their group stage performance was easily enough to progress, but narrower than they’d have liked. A 1-0 win over Bolivia, 3-2 over South Korea and a 1-1 draw with Spain would set up a Round of 16 tie against Belgium, whom they’d also dispatch 3-2. Bulgaria weren’t a weak side in the quarters, but Germany were fully expected to win. Then, they didn’t. Two Bulgarian goals in quick succession knocked them out 2-1 and that was that.
Next up, another classic template, but a much less interesting one. Yeah we still have the flag colours, this time winding their way down the front of the shirt (and in the sleeve logo), but they’re not as prominent. The fabric is striped, but not very visible and not in as interesting a manner. The rear of the shirt has something, but it isn’t very interesting and the most positive change is probably that they got smug enough to add their World Cup stars above the FA logo… It isn’t a bad shirt, but coming from that previous one makes it look one.
The home shirt for their home World Cup in 2006, Germany would waltz out of their group with 3 wins from 3. Yes, they conceded 2 to Costa Rica and needed a 91st minute goal to down Poland, but they were comfortable against Ecuador and in the Round of 16 struck quickly to down Sweden too! Things got interesting from then on, however, taking Argentina to a penalty shootout and not only winning, but also providing a nice post-match brawl. 2 extremely late extra-time goals by Italy would knock them out in the semi-final, though they’d regain their honour by beating Portugal 3-1 for 3rd place.
Germany need no real introduction, though it is impressive that those 2 sets of examples could be considered underachievements for the team! They’ve been to every World Cup except for 1930 and 1950, won 4 titles, been to a further 4 more finals and 5 semi-finals (and that’s not counting East Germany). Add to that three titles, runner-ups and third places at the Euros and you clearly have a major footballing powerhouse. Just to help, they’ve also had a 1st and 3rd at the old Confederations Cup from 3 appearances. However, they have fallen off somewhat, that 2017 Confederations Cup triumph being their last knockout stages win. Still, it is rather telling that them falling out of form is shown by them losing their 3rd ever World Cup qualifier… The Nations League in this dip in form has not proven useful, with the format change initially saving them from relegation and them being one of the last teams to gain a win. But they remain in League A.
Some nations have much weaker women’s sides. Germany are not one of them. They took 2 Euros to get going, first qualifying for 1989, but won it and then every Euros from then (except a 4th in 1993) up to and including Euro 2013. Considering 2017 was a quarter-finals appearance and 2022 was a loss in the final, it is safe to say they’re pretty good in Europe. Global tournaments are harder, however, and they do “only” have the 2003 and 2007 titles, a 1997 runners-up medal and 2 further 4th places. Couple that with 3 Olympic bronzes and the 2016 gold and you start to see that neither German team are there to make up the numbers. Throw in a horde of minor tournament tiles too and it is hard to tell whether they or the men’s team are more intimidating. Both sets of youth teams are about as you’d expect, just with slightly fewer titles. The men don’t have an Olympic title (only 1 silver), but do have 3 U21 titles, 6 U19 titles, 2 U20 World Cup finals (1 title), the same in the U17 World Cup and 4 U17 Euros titles plus a whole host of runner-ups and semi-finals. The women have 3 youth World Cups (all U19/U20 level), 6 U19 Euros and 8 U17 Euros, again with further achievements under their belt too. They are a footballing nation where you can only really list titles, that’s just what they do.
The string of titles dies off as we look outside of traditional football. Germany were late to futsal, debuting in 2016. Ranked comfortably in the bottom half of UEFA, they’ve never been to a major tournament, though have enough about them to compete in qualifiers until they meet the big teams. Youth futsal only started in 2023 qualifiers, with the team eliminated in the preliminary round, and they’ve not delved in women’s futsal yet at all. Long term beach soccer players, Germany did take home a Euro Beach Soccer League in its inaugural season of 1998 and registered several high place finishes there regardless. They have, however, dropped in League B and these days are a middling League A side. They only reached World Cups in the pre-FIFA days, but have come close in recent years. A decent side, but perhaps with their best days behind them.
Unsurprisingly, Germany qualified for the 2022 World Cup. They were expected to, likely without dropping points, but did shock a lot of people when they lost to North Macedonia. They won every other match, but it was a show of vulnerability, which is never optimistic looking towards a major tournament. Nonetheless, objective achieved.
Adam's National Shirt Collection 