The European Championships are over and World Cup qualification is about to begin: Before the German national team open their World Cup qualification campaign on Sunday (20:45 CEST) against Norway, the first international match of the season gets underway on Wednesday. Die Mannschaft take on Finland at Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Borussia Park. It is the last match that Bastian Schweinsteiger will be wearing his Germany shirt for. Centre back and Olympic silver medalist Niklas Süle is called up to the squad for the first time. Die Mannschaft’s past record against Finland will certainly provide some encouragement for this game. DFB.de has done a fact check ahead of the match.
COMPARISON: Germany have only scored more goals against Switzerland (138 in 51 games) and Austria (89 in 39 games) than against Finland (80 in 22 games). Only one Germany squad has ever lost against Finland, which was a 2-1 defeat in a friendly match in Dresden on 12th August 1923. Against no other team have Finland played so many times and yet lost on so many occasions. Germany’s 2-1 loss to Finland occurred on the second occasion that the two teams met, the first of which ended 3-3 in Helsinki on 18th September 1921. It was also the first of three international appearances for Sepp Herberger, when he scored both of his only two goals for Germany. After these two opening fixtures between the sides, Germany then went on a 13 game winning streak against Finland between 1925 and 1989. Since the 2-1 defeat in Germany’s first home game against Switzerland, the rest of the duels between the two nations that Germany have hosted ended in six wins and two draws, with the team scoring 39 goals compared to Finland’s three. Sepp Herberger’s last match as Germany coach was a 4-1 victory in a friendly in Helsinki on 7th June 1964. Thomas Häßler made his international debut in a 4-0 win in a World Cup qualifier on 31st August 1988.
DUELS WITHOUT A WIN: In recent years Germany have struggled against Finland: the four meetings between the two teams since the turn of the century, all World Cup qualifiers, have ended in draws. That represents Germany’s record for the most consecutive draws against one team. Only against Norway between 1930 and 1935 have they ever also drawn four times in a row. And it is only against Finland during this century that Germany have played that many times without winning a game. The last match between the two teams ended in a 1-1 draw in World Cup qualification in Hamburg on 14th October 2009. Germany had admittedly already achieved qualification, which was by that point mathematically impossible for Finland. Finland took the lead through Jonatan Johansson (11’) but Germany found a 90th minute equaliser through Lukas Podolski. Die Mannschaft’s last win against Finland came in a qualifier for the European Championships with a 2-1 win in Helsinki. Oliver Bierhoff scored a brace, while Janne Salli added to the score line with a 63rd minute strike. On 6th October 2001 Finland almost got their revenge in a 0-0 draw as Germany missed out on top spot in their qualification group on goal difference to England. However the team went on to qualify for the World Cup finals via a play-off against Ukraine.
BIGGEST HOME WIN: Under coach Sepp Herberger on 1st September 1940, Germany beat Finland 13-0 in Leipzig, their biggest ever home win to date. Germany have only ever won by a greater margin when they beat Russia 16-0 at the Olympics in 1912. Die Mannschaft also beat San Marino 13-0 on 6th September 2006 in a European Championship qualifier. Being 8-0 up at the break at home to San Marino as well as in that match against Russia is the highest lead the team have ever had going into half time. For Finland that 13-0 defeat is still their biggest defeat in an international match. Wilhelm Hahnemann scored a double hat-trick, the second highest number of goals scored for a German player in an international match. The only man to have scored more goals for Germany in a single game is Gottfried Fuchs with ten goals in the 16-0 win against Russia.
GOOD RECORD IN GLADBACH: On the exact same date as tomorrow’s fixture 30 years ago, Germany played against Finland in a World Cup qualifier and won 4-0 in Helsinki. Rudi Völler scored a brace while Lothar Matthäus and substitute Karl-Heinz Riedle got their names on the score sheet. Germany have only lost one in five matches in Mönchengladbach, with two wins and two draws. The defeat was a 2-1 loss on 29th March 2011 against Australia in which David Carney scored the 1000th goal that Germany had ever conceded. All five matches in Mönchengladbach took place at Borussia Park.
The European Championships are over and World Cup qualification is about to begin: Before the German national team open their World Cup qualification campaign on Sunday (20:45 CEST) against Norway, the first international match of the season gets underway on Wednesday. Die Mannschaft take on Finland at Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Borussia Park. It is the last match that Bastian Schweinsteiger will be wearing his Germany shirt for. Centre back and Olympic silver medalist Niklas Süle is called up to the squad for the first time. Die Mannschaft’s past record against Finland will certainly provide some encouragement for this game. DFB.de has done a fact check ahead of the match.
COMPARISON: Germany have only scored more goals against Switzerland (138 in 51 games) and Austria (89 in 39 games) than against Finland (80 in 22 games). Only one Germany squad has ever lost against Finland, which was a 2-1 defeat in a friendly match in Dresden on 12th August 1923. Against no other team have Finland played so many times and yet lost on so many occasions. Germany’s 2-1 loss to Finland occurred on the second occasion that the two teams met, the first of which ended 3-3 in Helsinki on 18th September 1921. It was also the first of three international appearances for Sepp Herberger, when he scored both of his only two goals for Germany. After these two opening fixtures between the sides, Germany then went on a 13 game winning streak against Finland between 1925 and 1989. Since the 2-1 defeat in Germany’s first home game against Switzerland, the rest of the duels between the two nations that Germany have hosted ended in six wins and two draws, with the team scoring 39 goals compared to Finland’s three. Sepp Herberger’s last match as Germany coach was a 4-1 victory in a friendly in Helsinki on 7th June 1964. Thomas Häßler made his international debut in a 4-0 win in a World Cup qualifier on 31st August 1988.
DUELS WITHOUT A WIN: In recent years Germany have struggled against Finland: the four meetings between the two teams since the turn of the century, all World Cup qualifiers, have ended in draws. That represents Germany’s record for the most consecutive draws against one team. Only against Norway between 1930 and 1935 have they ever also drawn four times in a row. And it is only against Finland during this century that Germany have played that many times without winning a game. The last match between the two teams ended in a 1-1 draw in World Cup qualification in Hamburg on 14th October 2009. Germany had admittedly already achieved qualification, which was by that point mathematically impossible for Finland. Finland took the lead through Jonatan Johansson (11’) but Germany found a 90th minute equaliser through Lukas Podolski. Die Mannschaft’s last win against Finland came in a qualifier for the European Championships with a 2-1 win in Helsinki. Oliver Bierhoff scored a brace, while Janne Salli added to the score line with a 63rd minute strike. On 6th October 2001 Finland almost got their revenge in a 0-0 draw as Germany missed out on top spot in their qualification group on goal difference to England. However the team went on to qualify for the World Cup finals via a play-off against Ukraine.
BIGGEST HOME WIN: Under coach Sepp Herberger on 1st September 1940, Germany beat Finland 13-0 in Leipzig, their biggest ever home win to date. Germany have only ever won by a greater margin when they beat Russia 16-0 at the Olympics in 1912. Die Mannschaft also beat San Marino 13-0 on 6th September 2006 in a European Championship qualifier. Being 8-0 up at the break at home to San Marino as well as in that match against Russia is the highest lead the team have ever had going into half time. For Finland that 13-0 defeat is still their biggest defeat in an international match. Wilhelm Hahnemann scored a double hat-trick, the second highest number of goals scored for a German player in an international match. The only man to have scored more goals for Germany in a single game is Gottfried Fuchs with ten goals in the 16-0 win against Russia.
GOOD RECORD IN GLADBACH: On the exact same date as tomorrow’s fixture 30 years ago, Germany played against Finland in a World Cup qualifier and won 4-0 in Helsinki. Rudi Völler scored a brace while Lothar Matthäus and substitute Karl-Heinz Riedle got their names on the score sheet. Germany have only lost one in five matches in Mönchengladbach, with two wins and two draws. The defeat was a 2-1 loss on 29th March 2011 against Australia in which David Carney scored the 1000th goal that Germany had ever conceded. All five matches in Mönchengladbach took place at Borussia Park.
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THE OPPOSITION: Finland have never managed to qualify for a World Cup or a European Championship. Their greatest success on the international stage was a fourth placed finish at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm. The fins played their first international match on the 22nd October 1911, where they lost 5-2 to Sweden. The biggest victory that Finland have recorded was a 10-2 demolition of Estonia in August 1922. In their EURO 2016 qualification group Finland finished fourth behind the championship participants Northern Ireland, Romania and Hungary, but ahead of Greece and the Faroe Islands. In the World Cup qualification group for 2018, the Scandinavians will face Kosovo, Croatia, Turkey and the Ukraine in group I. Their first qualifier will take place five days after the Germany game on the 5th Septemberr against Kosovo in Turku. Their most capped player is Jari Litamen with 137 appearances who is also the country’s record goalscorer with 32 goals. He retired from international football in 2010. Finland are currently in 61st place in the FIFA world rankings, 57 places behind Germany. In 2015 Finland managed to hold the 43rd place in the table, their best position for eight years. The most experienced Finnish Bundesliga player is ex-Werder Bremen defender Petri Pasanen, who played 144 times in the German league. The player with the most Bundesliga goals however, is shared between Pasi Rautiainen (14 goals in 116 Bundesliga) and Mikael Forssell (14 goals in 60 games).
HEAD COACH: Hans Backe took over as head coach in January 2016 replacing the sacked Mixu Paatelainen. The Swede applied for the role after an advertisement from the Finish football association and beat 150 applicants to job who all held UEFA Pro-licenses. He is the second Swede in the coaching staff. Backe’s start with the national side went badly. In his first five games, he drew once and lost four of which one was a 3-0 loss against his homeland Sweden, which was not deemed an official international game by FIFA due to the amount of substitutions that took place. Under interim coach Markku Kanerva Finland were unbeaten, winning two and drawing two. Backe has already trained teams from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Austria, Greece, England and the USA. He served as Sven Goran Eriksson’s assistant coach at Manchester City as well as the Mexico national team. In 1998 he was the head coach of Aalborg BK and also of Danish champions FC Copenhagen in 2004 and 2005. There have also been two German coaches of the Finland national side. From 1936 to 1937 Ferdinand Fabra was in charge, while Kurt Weinreich was head coach from 1955 to 1958.
TEEMU PUKKI: The Finnish striker played for Schalke 04 between 2011 and 2013 alongside Germany internationals Benedikt Höwedes and Julian Draxler. Pukki has been very successful in his time against German opposition. In 2011/12 the offensive player scored a hat-trick for Helsinki against Schalke in a Europa League qualifier, which subsequently saw the player sign for the Royal Blues. In the summer of 2016 he was the star as Brondby IF knocked out Hertha BSC in a Europa League qualifier. In the second leg Pukki scored all three goals to see his side progress.
FINLAND’S FORM: The Fins are without a win in seven game (three draws, 4 loses). Their last win was a 1-0 victory over the Faroe Islands in September 2015 as part of the European qualifiers. Finland have drawn two and lost three of their last five away games, with the last win coming in Piraeus against Greece in September 2015.
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GERMANY’S FORM: After going six games unbeaten, Germany lost their last game 2-0 in the EURO 2016 semi-final against France. It was also the first time in six games that the national side have conceded a goal in the first half. On home turf Germany have won four and lost two of their last six games. Die Mannschaft have only failed to score once in their last 37 home games: the 0-0 draw against Poland in May 2014. The national team have also lost four of their last seven friendlies (two wins, one draw).
NUMBERS; PLEASE: Germany’s match against Finland will be their 400th international match on German soil (including the Olympics, World Cup, European Championship and Confederations Cup). In the last 399 matches, there have been 250 victories, 79 draws and 70 defeats. Germany head coach Joachim Löw will take charge of the team for the 138th time. The only managers to have been at the helm for more games than this are Helmut Schön (139) and Sepp Herberger (167). The 90 wins under Löw’s management are only second to those of Herberger (94). Manuel Neuer and Toni Kroos could receive their 73rd caps which would draw them level with former captain Uwe Seeler. Thomas Müller will miss the chance equal 54 former World Cup winner Fritz Walter’s goal-scoring tally (33). Finland’s ex-Schalke striker Teemu Pukki will make his 50th appearance for his country if selected.
MATS HUMMELS: The Germany centre back scored his last Bundesliga goal against Finland’s goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky in Borussia Dortmund’s 4-1 win against Frankfurt in 2015.
CAPTAIN’S FAREWELL: The match against Finland is Bastian Schweinsteiger’s farewell game for Germany as he retires from international football. The national team captain has 121 appearances for his country scoring 24 goals. Only Lothar Matthäus (150), Miroslav Klose (137) and Lukas Podolski (129) have more caps for Germany.
REFEREE: The game in Mönchengladbach will be overseen by Belarussian Alexej Kulbakow. His assistants will be Dmitri Schuk and Oleg Masljanko.
THE KITS: Die Mannschaft will play in their white homeshirt with the FIFA World Champion badge, black shorts and black socks.
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