GERMANY : WORLD CUP HISTORY

Between 1966 and 1990, no team had a better record than Germany, which reached the championship game in 1966, 1974, 1982, 1986 and 1990 and came away victorious in 1974 and 1990. In 1954, the West Germans stunned heavily favored Hungary in the championship match, 3-2, after losing a first-round encounter, 8-3.

In 1974, behind Der Kaiser, Franz Beckenbauer (now head of the 2006 World Cup Organizing Committee), the Germans defeated the Netherlands, 2-1, to capture the Cup at home. And in 1990, under the direction of coach Beckenbauer, they emerged as the best team in a rather mediocre tournament, edging Argentina, 1-0 in the championship match.

The 1994 competition wasn't kind to the Germans, who lost a 1-0 lead in a quarterfinal encounter with surprising Bulgaria. The Bulgarians struck twice late in the match en route to a 2-1 upset. In 1998, however, the Germans proved to be closer to mere mortals. They managed to reach the second round, where they were dispatched by another surprise side, Croatia, 3-0. The Germans rode the stellar goalkeeping of Oliver Kahn, the skills of Michael Ballack, some gritty play and even some luck (that non-handball call against the U.S. in the quarterfinals) to win all of their knockout round games by 1-0 scores to reach the championship game before Brazil prevailed, 2-0, in the first World Cup encounter ever between those two powerhouse nations.