Tears and traumas: Eight classic England vs Germany matches ahead of Euro 2020 clash

Michael Graham
29 June 2021

Very few rivalries in international soccer can boast as storied a history as England vs Germany, and it's rarely gone well for the Three Lions.

Old adversaries England and Germany will resume their rivalry at Euro 2020 after being drawn together in the last 16.

It will be the first time for more than a decade that they have met in a major tournament, but it will also be just the latest chapter in arguably the most storied rivalry in international soccer.

England 4-2 West Germany, 1966 World Cup Final

Interestingly, for all Germany are now considered England's greatest international soccer rivals, that certainly wasn't the case when they met at the 1966 World Cup Final.

That was actually the first time the two countries had faced each other in a competitive match, and even to this day it was the most dramatic and storied.

Geoff Hurst's hat-trick, a last-gasp West Germany equaliser, was it over the line or wasn't it, 'some people are on the pitch'… the events are legendary, and no one needs us to remind them. So just watch it instead.

West Germany 3-2 England, 1970 World Cup quarter-final

If Germany's football hoodoo over England started anywhere, it was at the 1970 World Cup.

The two sides actually met in 1968 in a friendly too, with Franz Beckenbauer scoring the winner in a 1-0 success in Hannover. It was Germany's first win against England.

Friendlies, though, ultimately count for little. It was 1970 which hurt England, and especially the manner of it.

Alf Ramsey's men were world champions and led twice in Leon, only for Gerd Muller to grab the winner in extra time.

West Germany 1-1 England (Pens 4-3), 1990 World Cup semi-final

The match that scarred a generation.

England were good in Italia 90. Really good. More to the point, England were likeable, and how many times have we really been able to say that?

West Germany won that tournament, and they were defeated finalists four years earlier in Mexico. They were good, and everyone knew it.

There is a whole generation of England fans who are still, to this day, unable to relive that match in Turin without a tear in their eye, myself included, and there is a reason for that.

That night was pure. The lines were clear. There were good guys - Gazza, Gary Lineker, Peter Beardsley, Chris Waddle, Stuart Pearce, Bobby Robson - and they lost. Not only did they lose, they lost in the most painful way. They hurt, and we hurt with them. Some of us still hurt to this day.

England 1-1 Germany (Pens 5-6), Euro 96 semi-final

They couldn't do it to us again could they? They could, and they did.

Same scoreline after 120 minutes, same near misses and fine margins, and same result - Germany win on penalties and go on to win the tournament.

The only real difference this time was that Germany had the sheer temerity to do it to us in our own back yard.

Current England boss Gareth Southgate was the man to miss the decisive penalty on this occasion, but the moment we will all always remember most was Gazza just not being able to reach a cross in extra time.

Even to this day, whenever you watch it you expect him to get it.

England 1-0 Germany, Euro 2000

There was nothing really remarkable about this one other than England winning.

Even then, Germany wouldn't really allow us to enjoy it by having a very un-German-like poor team at the time.

Germany were definitely in the midst of transition in 2000. England, on the other hand, were good on paper but had a manager, Kevin Keegan, who just a few months later quit admitting he was not up to the job.

On the day, an Alan Shearer goal, his penultimate in an England shirt, decided it. In terms of quality and drama, it was no classic, and neither team qualified from the group.

But England won so we're clinging onto it.

England 0-1 Germany, World Cup 2002 qualifier

Remember when we said Kevin Keegan quit saying he wasn't good enough? Well this was the game that pushed him to it.

For the most part it was still the same decent England team on paper and the same transitional Germany side.

The stakes were high, though, as it was the last England match ever to be played at the 'old' Wembley. The bulldozers were due to move in and work about to be started on building the stadium that stands on the same site today.

England had to give it a good send-off then, yeah? The most famous old ground of all the famous old grounds in world soccer deserved nothing but a worthy farewell, right?

Wrong. Germany even managed to spoil that too.

Germany 1-5 England, World Cup 2002 qualifier

Now we are talking.

I mean, let's be clear here, that was a dreadful Germany team by just about any major nation's standards, never mind theirs.

By that point, though, we didn't care. Sven-Goran Eriksson's England needed to win to aid their qualification bid after a poor start under Kevin Keegan, who he took over from. More to the point, we wanted to win. Just once. We just wanted to beat Germany once when it actually mattered and counted for something.

Alarm bells were ringing when Carsten Jancker gave Germany a sixth-minute lead, but England scored themselves soon after. Then they scored again, and again, and again, again.

In fact, in some ways when you look back it's almost surprising that England only won 5-1, because my recollection of that night is England literally just spent all night scoring goals.

Even Emile Heskey scored, for goodness sake.

Germany 4-1 England, World Cup 2010

It might seem an odd thing to say 11 years after a 4-1 defeat, but England were absolutely robbed that day in Bloemfontein.

Okay, so David James had a bit of a nightmare in the England goal, and both centre-backs decided they just didn't fancy defending that day.

But England, courtesy of Frank Lampard, scored a brilliant equaliser at 2-1 that was so far over the line you wondered how German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer even had the nerve to attempt to style it out like he did.

The result said it was a rout, but the reality was different.