England and Germany renew rivalry

As England and Germany prepare to meet again in the FIFA World Cup last 16 on Sunday UEFA.com looks ahead to the match and back over the history of a classic rivalry.

Key men: Wayne Rooney v Mesut Özil
England fans will be hoping the Manchester United FC man rediscovers the form that saw him score 35 goals for club and country last season. Ominously, the 24-year-old has not scored in nine games since injuring his ankle in April. By contrast Özil has been the star of the show for Germany, the playmaker providing vision, guile and even the finishing touch with his brilliant winner against Ghana.

Classic World Cup encounters
Whoever comes out on top, the match is likely to live long in the memory judging by past meetings. England have not beaten Germany (or West Germany) at the World Cup finals since lifting the trophy for the one and only time with their 4-2 victory over their rivals in the 1966 showpiece. West Germany got their revenge in the quarter-finals four years later, Gerd Müller hitting the winner in a 3-2 triumph. The two sides drew 0-0 in the second group stage in 1982 (West Germany advancing at England's expense) before the epic 1990 semi-final which West Germany won on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Qualifying for the 2002 finals was also something special; England can draw strength from a brilliant 5-1 win in Munich, avenging defeat in the final game at the old Wembley 11 months earlier.

Complete record
Played: 27
England wins: 12
Germany/West Germany wins: 10 (including shoot-out victories)
Drawn: 5
The sides' most recent tournament meeting came during the UEFA EURO 2000 group stage. Alan Shearer scored the only goal in Charleroi but neither team advanced to the knockout phase. England have beaten Germany just five times in 19 matches since 1966.

That final
England boast a perfect record against Germany in finals, though even their famous 4-2 win in the 1966 showpiece at Wembley is a bone of contention. While Ken Wolstenholme's BBC commentary prior to Geoff Hurst completing his hat-trick with England's fourth goal – "Some people on the pitch. They think it's all over ... it is now" – has entered English folklore, German fans still question whether England's third actually crossed the line after thumping down off the crossbar.

Penalties
"Football is a simple game: you play for 120 minutes and then the Germans win on penalties." The quote may be apocryphal, but whether former England striker Gary Lineker said it or not, it rings true. West Germany's shoot-out victory over England in the 1990 semi-final sticks longest in the memory, but the sight of Andreas Möller, chest out, strutting at Wembley after scoring the decisive spot-kick in the EURO '96 semi-finals is the stuff of English nightmares. Fabio Capello has had England practising penalties after each training session in Rustenburg and will take heart from that rarest of sights – Lukas Podolski's penalty miss against Serbia.

Number: 1
Germany have missed just one of the 18 penalties they have taken in World Cup shoot-outs. England, by contrast, have lost all three they have contested: West Germany (1990), Argentina (1998), Portugal (2006).

Quotes
"Come on, are you boys up for it?"
David James cranks up the pressure on his England team-mates during penalty practice

"We do not think about negative scenarios, even against England. This single-mindedness is one of our strengths."
Injured midfielder Michael Ballack tells The Times of the confidence that is a hallmark of Germany teams

Rivalry
There is little worse in a football rivalry than for your greatest nemesis to actually dislike another team more than your own, and here once again Germany have the upper hand. While no fixture sends a greater shiver down the collective English spine than a meeting with Germany, according to Ballack, "for us the rivalry is only so-so. Many Germans are a little bit surprised England see us as their biggest enemies. We don't really know why this is. Germany's biggest rivalry is probably with Holland."

Forerunner
Beating England is drilled into the German psyche from a young age and less than a year after lifting the UEFA European Under-21 Championship with a 4-0 victory against England, six of that side will look to do the same for the seniors. Manuel Neuer, Özil, Sami Khedira, Marko Marin, Jérôme Boateng and Dennis Aogo were all part of Germany's victorious squad, with Özil turning heads even then with his man-of-the-match performance in the final. Of England's World Cup squad James Milner played for England in Malmo; Joe Hart missed out through suspension.