Memorable England v Germany Fixtures to Whet Your Appetite

A game influential in bringing technology to football, Germany may have romped to a famous victory over England, yet it was Frank Lampard’s ghost goal that stole the headlines from this 2010 World Cup round of 16 tie.

Storming to a two-goal lead after just half an hour, strikes from Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski gave Germany a healthy advantage early on. Yet, rising high to loop a header past Manuel Neuer, unlikely goalscorer, Matthew Upson gave England a route back into the game.

From there on in the Three Lions were on top and had seemingly equalised after Lampard rifled a 25-yard effort towards the Germany goal. Firing against the crossbar, before bouncing down and across the line, all 40,000 spectators in Bloemfontein and the millions watching worldwide could see it was a goal, yet Uruguayan referee, Jorge Larrionda disagreed.

Feeling aggrieved, Fabio Cappello’s side pushed for an equaliser but were unable to find a breakthrough. A quick-fire second half double from eventual Golden Boot winner, Thomas Müller, secured the win for Die Mannschaft, who went on to finish the tournament in third place.

Michael Owen was on hand to score a hat-trick as England came from behind to demolish Germany in Group 9 of the 2002 World Cup Qualifying. Whilst not technically a knockout match in a major tournament, England’s visit to the Munich Olympiastadion in September of 2001 may as well have been, given the importance riding on the fixture.

Six points ahead of the Three Lions, a Germany victory would have confirmed automatic qualification for the 2002 World Cup, whilst reducing England to the dreaded play-offs. It was the worst possible start for newly appointed England boss, Sven-Göran Eriksson, as his side went behind six minutes into the match, courtesy of a Carsten Jancker strike.

Fearing the worst, an inspired performance from starlet Michael Owen turned the game on its head, with the then 21-year-old scoring three as England turned the game on its head. Owen’s blistering pace and clinical finishing were too much for the German defence to handle, with teammates Steven Gerrard and Emile Heskey adding a further two either side of half-time to cap off a memorable victory.

The win remains the biggest margin of victory for either side in this fixture and whilst unlikely given England’s goalscoring exploits so far at Euro 2020, the Three Lions are priced at 5/1 to score 3+ goals in their round of 16 tie against Germany.

Dominating for the majority of the match, England suffered penaltyshootout heartache against Germany for the second time in six years during the Euro 1996 semi-final. Racing ahead three minutes into the match, Terry Adams flicked on Paul Gascoigne’s corner, before the tournament’s leading scorer, Alan Shearer ran on to nod the ball home.

Wembley Stadium erupted as the English faithful began dreaming of a first international trophy in 30 years.Yet, as is often the case with the Germans, it was too early to write them off and they duly equalised midway through the first half through Beşiktaş striker, Stefan Kuntz. Without much in the way of chances throughout the second period, the match trundled towards an extra 30 minutes.

Stretching to latch on the end of a Steve McManaman cross, Darren Anderton could only watch as his prodded effort bounced back off the post, whilst millimetres separated Gascoigne’s left boot from an open net tap-in. The inevitable prevailed in the penalty shootout, as Germany beat England 6-5 to progress to the Euro 1996 final, with current Three Lions boss, Gareth Southgate, missing the decisive one.

The now 50-year-old manager will be hoping England can get the job done in 90 minutes when the two meet at Wembley again, but should the match need a shootout to separate the sides, a Germany win on penalties is priced at a tempting 10/1.

In their first competitive meeting at a knockout stage of the World Cup since the 1966 final, West Germany saw off England in the first-ever penalty shootout between the two sides. Looping over Peter Shilton in the England goal, West German defender, Andreas Brehme, saw his deflected effort give Die Mannschaft the lead midway through the second half.

Seemingly on their way to their sixth final, the then two-time world champions spurned a number of chances, before allowing England a route back into the tie. Bringing down a searching cross from Paul Parker, England talisman, Gary Lineker finished calmly under pressure to take the match into extra-time.

With neither side able to find a breakthrough in extra-time, the match was headed penalties, but not before one of the tournament’s defining moments unfolded. Flying into an unnecessary tackle, a fresh-faced Gascoigne ruled himself of the final should England make it, with the then 23-year-old picking up his second booking of the tournament. Ultimately it wasn’t to be for Gazza or England, as the Three Lions missed two of their four penalties to send West Germany through to the final.

An England victory on penalties against Germany at Euro 2020 is a lengthy 11/1.

A Geoff Hurst inspired England came from behind to lift their first and only international trophy in controversial fashion at the 1966 World Cup. Playing in front of a jam-packed Wembley crowd, the majority of the 96,000 supporters were silenced 12 minutes into the contest, when Helmut Haller fired West Germany ahead. Responding four minutes later, West Ham United striker, Hurst scored his first of three with a glancing header past Hans Tilkowski in the German goal.

Both sides struggled to create many chances throughout the remainder of the match, setting up a grandstand finish. England supporters and players alike thought their side had won the competition when Martin Peters struck ten minutes from time, but the midfielder’s effort was cancelled out with one minute to play through West Germany’s Wolfgang Weber.

Still, Alf Ramsey’s England were able to find the resilience throughout extra-time to go on and snatch the win. Firing an effort towards the roof of the net, the ball struck the crossbar before bouncing across the line. Or at least that was how Russian linesman, Tofiq Bahramov interpreted the incident, who awarded the goal despite considerable protests from the West German players.

Hurst completed his hattrick and sealed the win for the Three Lions in the last minute of extra-time, breaking into the West Germany box and rifling an effort into the top corner. Either side to win the match in extra-time this time around is 5/1, with a repeat of ’66 and an England victory during the added 30 minutes priced at 10/1.

By Amos Murphy