Germany at the 2002 FIFA World Cup

Germany had to play against England, Finland, Albania and Greece, managed by fellow German Otto Rehhagel.

The start was promising with four wins in a row, including a 1-0 win against England at Wembley. Since England could only manage a draw away at Finland, automatic qualification should have been a foregone conclusion. In the next game, there was a 2-2 draw against Finland, which was ironed out by winning away in Albania.^{[citation needed]} In the following game, a draw against England would have seen Germany qualify automatically from this match.

After six minutes, Germany took the lead with a goal by Carsten Jancker but England soon equalised with a Michael Owen goal. From that point on in the match, it seemed like England could do no wrong and what wrong was inconsequential for Germany to make up the point difference. Germany did not offer anything on the break and the final score was for England, 5-1. Automatic qualification was pushed back.^[1]

The last match of qualifying saw Germany play Finland and simultaneously England play Greece. Germany was hoping for the Greeks to give them a helping hand, by at least drawing with England. Greece led until the 90th minute, when David Beckham equalised from a free kick. If Germany had won, then they would have finished first and with that qualified automatically to the World Cup finals. However, Germany only managed a 0-0 draw and therefore finished in second place.^{[citation needed]}

That meant that Germany had to play a play-off game and drew Ukraine. On 10 November 2001, the two teams played out a 1-1 draw,^[2] which was played in Kyiv. Four days later, Germany finally qualified for the World Cup by winning 4-1. After only 15 minutes, Germany were leading the match 3-0.

The result of a England loss to Germany there followed by the latter being inundated by criticism, and they would not automatically qualify for a berth at the upcoming World Cup. Supporters of Germany said that the combative nature of the Germans makes them competitive. The convincing result against Ukraine was celebrated as a rebirth for German football.^{[citation needed]}

Play-offs

Group 9 Final Table