The Franks were a Germanic tribe (as were the Burgunder, nowadays
mostly known for producing excellent wines) and so French and Germans
have more in common than they would care to admit (not unlike Jews and
Arabs or Serbs and Croats). Both like to claim Charlemagne
viz. Karl der Große as their own, as belligerent an individual as
they come or ever came – if perhaps not responsible for quite as much death
and devastation as some of his fellow war criminals and mass murderers,
say basileús Aléxandros ho Mégas, proconsul Gaius Iulius Caesar,
Genghis Khan or Amir Timur (the Lame).
Roi Louis Quatorze and Kaiser Wilhelm II. were both extremely
unpleasant neighbours, sharing an authoritarian disposition and next to no
moral sense, while there are undeniable similarities between the military
endeavours of Italian upstart Napoleone di Buonaparte and failed Austrian
painter Adolphus Hitler, whose destructive attempts to "unite" Europe even
beyond the borders of the empire once created by Carolus Magnus were defeated
by Russian winters.
Nevertheless, dislike (and worse) between the two nations dates back a long time and was occasionally reinforced by the odd football match, most notoriously the 1982 World Cup semi-final in Spain which only the Germans remember for their remarkable comeback victory, while everyone else has but a single image in mind: that of German 'keeper Schumacher crashing into Battiston in an apparent attempt at manslaughter, strangely unpunished by an inept Dutch referee.
Both twice hosted the World Cup, once winning the tournament at home and once suffering elimination by the azzurri, who went on to win instead, and while Germany's participations in France in 1938 and 1998 both were unmitigated disasters, the French, who failed to qualify for the 1974 tournament after finishing last in their qualifying group behind the Soviet Union and Ireland, had a good run in 2006 before star player Zidane lost it in the final, collecting his second direct red card at a World Cup tournament (noone else managed that so far) and the fourteenth sending off in his career (and that as a midfield player), thus reinforcing the French reputation as cugini antipatici among their southeastern neighbours.
While the overall balance favours the French (irrespective of whether or not one considers West Germany between 1945 and 1990 separately; however, East Germany had the better of the exchanges in the six qualifying matches they played against les bleus), the last three World Cup meetings (in 1982, 1986 and 2014) all went the way of die Mannschaft, whose only World Cup defeat against France came in the first, fairly meaningless such encounter, in 1958 between the two semi-final losers (which also saw the record number of goals for the fixture, four alone by Just Fontaine).
All matches between French and German teams are included: pre-war Germany, West Germany (FR Germany here, considered the successor of Germany as the football association (DFB) remained the same), East Germany (German DR here) and unified Germany (officially after the 1990 World Cup, and considered the successor of West Germany). All matches are friendlies unless stated otherwise.
Game Date Venue Result Remark 1. 15- 3-1931 Paris France 1-0 Germany 2. 19- 3-1933 Berlin Germany 3-3 France 3. 17- 3-1935 Paris France 1-3 Germany 4. 21- 3-1937 Stuttgart Germany 4-0 France 5. 5-10-1952 Paris France 3-1 FR Germany 6. 16-10-1954 Hannover FR Germany 1-3 France 7. 28- 6-1958 Göteborg France 6-3 FR Germany [World Cup] 8. 26-10-1958 Paris France 2-2 FR Germany 9. 24-10-1962 Stuttgart FR Germany 2-2 France 10. 27- 9-1967 Berlin FR Germany 5-1 France 11. 25- 9-1968 Marseille France 1-1 FR Germany 12. 13-10-1973 Gelsenkirchen FR Germany 2-1 France E 1. 16-11-1974 Paris France 2-2 German DR [European Champ. Qual.] E 2. 12-10-1975 Leipzig German DR 2-1 France [European Champ. Qual.] 13. 23- 2-1977 Paris France 1-0 FR Germany 14. 19-11-1980 Hannover FR Germany 4-1 France 15. 8- 7-1982 Sevilla FR Germany 3-3 France [*] [World Cup] 16. 18- 4-1984 Strasbourg France 1-0 FR Germany E 3. 8-12-1984 Paris France 2-0 German DR [World Cup Qualifier] E 4. 11- 9-1985 Leipzig German DR 2-0 France [World Cup Qualifier] 17. 25- 6-1986 Guadalajara FR Germany 2-0 France [World Cup] E 5. 19-11-1986 Leipzig German DR 0-0 France [European Champ. Qual.] 18. 12- 8-1987 Berlin FR Germany 2-1 France E 6. 18-11-1987 Paris France 0-1 German DR [European Champ. Qual.] E 7. 24- 1-1990 Kuwait City France 3-0 German DR [Kuwait Tournament] 19. 28- 2-1990 Montpellier France 2-1 FR Germany 20. 1- 6-1996 Stuttgart Germany 0-1 France 21. 27- 2-2001 Paris France 1-0 Germany 22. 15-11-2003 Gelsenkirchen Germany 0-3 France 23. 12-11-2005 Paris France 0-0 Germany 24. 29- 2-2012 Bremen Germany 1-2 France 25. 6- 2-2013 Paris France 1-2 Germany 26. 4- 7-2014 Rio de Janeiro Germany 1-0 France [World Cup] 27. 13-11-2015 Paris France 2-0 Germany 28. 7- 7-2016 Marseille France 2-0 Germany [European Championship] 29. 14-11-2017 Köln Germany 2-2 France 30. 6- 9-2018 München Germany 0-0 France [European Nations League] 31. 16-10-2018 Paris France 2-1 Germany [European Nations League] 32. 15- 6-2021 München Germany 0-1 France [European Championship] 33. 12- 9-2023 Dortmund Germany 2-1 France 34. 23- 3-2024 Lyon France 0-2 Germany [*] aet, FR Germany won 5-4 on penalties
Total record: France 34 15 8 11 51- 50 38 Germany 19 6 4 9 21- 23 16 FR Germany 15 5 4 6 29- 28 14 France 7 2 2 3 8- 7 6 German DR 7 3 2 2 7- 8 8 Some more stats: Germany/FRG Pd F D G FG- GG In France: 15 9 3 3 20- 13 In Germany: 15 5 4 6 22- 28 Elsewhere: 4 1 1 2 9- 9 German DR Pd F D G FG- GG In France: 3 1 1 1 4- 3 In German DR: 3 0 1 2 1- 4 Elsewhere: 1 1 0 0 3- 0
East Germany - List of International Matches
(West) Germany - List of International Matches
France - List of International Matches
Prepared and maintained by Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Author: Karel Stokkermans
(karel.rsssf@gmail.com)
Last updated: 24 Mar 2024
(C) Copyright Karel Stokkermans and RSSSF 2017/24
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper
acknowledgement is given to the author. All rights reserved.