2006 Germany World Cup

It is the first time Germany stage the compitition after the reunification. The former West Germany hosted once before in 1974.

Since 1990, for the first time, Germany won all three games in the qualification stage, 3-0 Costa Rica, 1-0 Poland, and 3-0 Ecuador. During the knockout stage, they won 2-0 Sweden and then sent Argentina home by winning the penalty shoot-out, 4-2. With the expectation of the whole country, they moved forward to the semi-final but lost to Italy in the last 10 minutes of the game. Germany eventually won third place by beating Portugal 3-1.

Similar to Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski was also born in Poland to a father with German heritage and a Polish mother who played for the Poland national handball team. He migrated to West Germany with his parents when he was two years old. He is eligible to play for both Germany and Poland and he intended to play for the country he was born in. However, he was rejected by coach Pawel Janas in 2003, and then decided to join the German national team. His outstanding performance during the 2006 World Cup won him the World Cup's Best Young Player.

ARD also offers extended reading if you want to practice your German!