The German national soccer team is on the plane on the way to the World Cup, which is mainly held in the USA. There was already a World Cup. What I remember most about her is a sticky finger. From the games against the USA it’s soaking wet hair and a handball that the referee overlooked.
The journey began on Tuesday (June 2nd, 2026) with a delay of almost an hour and should last as long as possible for the German national team. The selection of the German Football Association will definitely be in North America for almost four weeks, as the last preliminary round game against Ecuador is scheduled for June 25th. If the final is reached, it will take around three weeks longer to return.
The first flight destination is Chicago, because there is a friendly match against the USA on Saturday.
Rain, rain, rain, Recife
This comparison has only happened twelve times, but it has already happened three times at world championships. In the 1998 group stage, Germany won 2-0. With the same result, the USA were defeated in the preliminary round on the way to winning the title in 2014. It was a memorable game, not because of the footballing performances, but because of the hours of heavy rain in Recife, Brazil. Many people will still remember the image of national coach Joachim Löw with soaking wet hair. The USA coach at the time was Jürgen Klinsmann.
At least the rain was warm: Jogi Löw in Recife
Handball
With a bang and noise, as was the norm for Germany at the 2002 World Cup, Germany won the quarter-finals at the 2002 World Cup 1-0. If the VAR had already been in use back then, it wouldn’t have taken slow motion to make the right decision after a handball by Torsten Frings on the goal line: a penalty and a red card.
No draw yet
The record between Germany and the USA so far looks as if the game was played in a mode that is common and popular in North America. There has never been a draw. The USA won four duels, including one at the 1999 Confederations Cup in Mexico, in which the DFB called up players who had nothing better to do.
The last of eight German victories so far came on October 14, 2023, 3-1. It was the first game under Julian Nagelsmann. What I remember most about the game was the new national coach’s top, a mixture of a shirt and a jacket.
A mixture of jacket and shirt: Julian Nagelsmann on his debut
Soccer in Chicago
The first comparison only took place in 1993. Jürgen Klinsmann and three times Karl-Heinz Riedle scored the goals in a 4-3 victory in Chicago. The DFB undertook the trip because a year later the World Cup was coming up in the USA, the country where football is still called soccer today.
Three things in particular will be remembered from this World Cup in connection with the German team:
– the last group game against South Korea in the sweltering heat of Dallas, which makes Rudi Völler still happy today that he was allowed to sit on the bench
– Jordan Lechkov’s header made it 2-1 for Bulgaria, which sent the defending champions home in the quarter-finals
Jordan Letschkow headed home Germany in 1994.
– Stefan Effenberg’s finger directed at German fans during the group final, which ensured that Effenberg was sent home early. Berti Vogts also said that Effenberg would never play for the German national team again as long as he was national coach. There are neither photos nor moving images of the incident, which shows Effenberg with an extended middle finger.