The end of the East Germany national team: the day a footballing country stopped existing (1990)
The East Germany national team went out of existence on Wednesday 3 October 1990, the day the German Democratic Republic was absorbed into the Federal Republic and stopped being a country. RSSSF titles its complete archive of the side “East Germany, International Results 1952-1990”, and 1990 is where it stops. There was no farewell match on the day, because the team had already played its last one three weeks earlier. Our On This Day series is built on fixtures, and this anniversary has none.
What follows is what that team had done in thirty-eight years, and how its last night actually went.
Key Facts
- The German Democratic Republic ceased to exist on 3 October 1990, and its national football team with it. RSSSF’s archive of the side runs 1952 to 1990.
- No match was played on the day. The last East Germany international had been three weeks earlier, on 12 September 1990.
- That final match was at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels and finished Belgium 0-2 East Germany, both goals from Matthias Sammer, on 74 and 89 minutes, watched by 10,000.
- East Germany’s most famous result was West Germany 0-1 East Germany at the 1974 World Cup in Hamburg, Juergen Sparwasser scoring on 78 minutes in front of 62,000.
- The International Olympic Committee lists the German Democratic Republic as the men’s football gold medallists at Montreal 1976, ahead of Poland and the USSR.
- The domestic league carried on. RSSSF files the 1990-91 season as “East Germany (Germany, RL Nordost)”, with fixtures on 5 and 6 October, days after the country had gone.
- Only two clubs from that final season went into the Bundesliga for 1991-92: FC Hansa Rostock and 1. FC Dynamo Dresden.
Watch More Football History
The Football Documentary Channel
A National Team With No Nation
An Anniversary With No Fixture
Almost every entry in this series is a match. This one is a deletion. On 3 October 1990 the German Democratic Republic acceded to the Federal Republic of Germany, and a national football team that had played since 1952 simply had nobody left to represent.
It is worth being exact about this, because the anniversary invites a tidy story that is not true. Nobody kicked a ball for East Germany on 3 October 1990. No East German league match was played that day either: RSSSF’s record of the 1990-91 league season has fixtures on 5 and 6 October, and none on the 3rd. The state ended on a Wednesday and the football went on two days later, which is the part most retellings skip.
The Last Night, and Who Scored
East Germany’s final international was on 12 September 1990, at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels. According to RSSSF’s match record it finished Belgium 0-2 East Germany, with both goals scored by Matthias Sammer, on 74 minutes and again on 89. Ten thousand people were there. Blankenstein of the Netherlands refereed.
Six years later, RSSSF’s European Footballer of the Year list has Sammer winning the 1996 award at Borussia Dortmund. The last two goals East Germany ever scored were scored by a man who went on to become the best player in Europe for the country that absorbed it.
There was no ceremony and no full house, and the farewell that had been arranged never happened: RSSSF records a match against West Germany scheduled for 14 November 1990 in Leipzig to celebrate the merger of the two football associations, cancelled after repeated crowd trouble in East German grounds. A friendly in Brussels in front of a tenth of a stadium, and then nothing.
Hamburg, 1974: The Result They Are Remembered For
East Germany qualified for one World Cup, and drew West Germany in it. The two Germanys met once in a competitive match, at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg on 22 June 1974, and RSSSF’s record of it is short enough to quote in full: West Germany 0-1 East Germany, referee Barreto Ruiz of Uruguay, attendance 62,000, goal Sparwasser on 78 minutes.
The West German team sheet that night carried Beckenbauer, Vogts, Breitner, Overath and Gerd Mueller. Juergen Sparwasser beat them, and the sides never played each other again in anything that counted, so the record between the two Germanys closed at one match, one goal, and it belonged to the East. This is the sort of fixture our Football Rivalries films exist for, except that this rivalry only ever produced one competitive night.
West Germany lost that match and won the tournament.
| Date | Match | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| 22 June 1974 | West Germany 0-1 East Germany | World Cup, Hamburg. Sparwasser 78. Attendance 62,000 |
| 31 July 1976 | Olympic final, Montreal | East Germany take gold, Poland silver, USSR bronze |
| 12 September 1990 | Belgium 0-2 East Germany | Heysel, Brussels. Sammer 74 and 89. Attendance 10,000 |
| 3 October 1990 | No match | The GDR ceases to exist; so does its national team |
Olympic Gold, and What It Was Worth
The team’s one major title came at Montreal in 1976. The International Olympic Committee’s results for the Games list the German Democratic Republic as men’s football gold medallists, with Poland second and the USSR third. RSSSF’s file on the tournament has East Germany coming through a group with Brazil and Spain, drawing 0-0 with Brazil and beating Spain 1-0.
Olympic football in that era rewarded countries whose players were nominally amateur, which is a fair caveat and a familiar one. It is also the only gold medal the country ever won in the sport, and it is still on the IOC’s list under a flag that no longer flies.
The League That Outlived the Country
The clubs took far longer to disappear than the national team did. RSSSF files the 1990-91 season under the title “East Germany (Germany, RL Nordost) 1990/91”, which captures the confusion neatly: a league belonging to a state that no longer existed, being played inside a country that had just acquired it. The season had kicked off on 11 August 1990, while the GDR was still a country, and ran all the way through.
The weekend either side of reunification looked like any other. Hansa Rostock beat Viktoria Frankfurt 2-0 on 5 October, and Dynamo Dresden beat Rot-Weiss Erfurt 3-0 on the 6th. Players who had gone to bed as East Germans got up and played a league fixture in a different country.
When it finished, the funnel was narrow. RSSSF records exactly two clubs qualifying for the Bundesliga for 1991-92, Hansa Rostock and Dynamo Dresden. The rest went into the Zweite Bundesliga, directly or through play-offs, or dropped further. Fourteen clubs went into that final season and two came out of it at the top level.
READ MORE: More days that changed a country’s football, in our On This Day series →
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About the End of the East Germany National Team
When did the East Germany national team stop existing?
On 3 October 1990, when the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany and stopped being a country. RSSSF’s complete archive of the side is titled “East Germany, International Results 1952-1990”. No match was played on the day itself; the team had already played its last one.
What was East Germany’s last international match?
Belgium 0-2 East Germany, played at Heysel in Brussels on 12 September 1990. RSSSF’s record gives both goals to Matthias Sammer, on 74 and 89 minutes, with 10,000 present and Blankenstein of the Netherlands refereeing. It was three weeks before reunification, so the team was finished before the country was.
Who scored East Germany’s last goals?
Matthias Sammer, twice, in Brussels on 12 September 1990. RSSSF’s record of Belgium 0-2 East Germany puts them on 74 and 89 minutes. Six years later its European Footballer of the Year list records him taking the 1996 award at Borussia Dortmund, so the last player to score for East Germany became the best player in Europe for the country that replaced it.
Did any football take place on 3 October 1990 in East Germany?
No. RSSSF’s record of the 1990-91 East German league season contains no fixtures dated 3 October 1990. The nearest rounds were played on 5 and 6 October, the weekend after reunification. The anniversary is a political date with football consequences rather than a match day.
Did East Germany ever beat West Germany?
Yes, once, in the only match the two ever played. West Germany 0-1 East Germany at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg on 22 June 1974, in the World Cup group stage, with Juergen Sparwasser scoring on 78 minutes in front of 62,000. The two sides never met again in a competitive fixture.
Who played for West Germany in the 1974 match against East Germany?
RSSSF’s team sheet for 22 June 1974 lists Maier in goal, Beckenbauer, Vogts, Schwarzenbeck and Breitner in defence, Hoeness, Cullmann and Overath in midfield, and Grabowski, Gerd Mueller and Flohe in attack. Netzer and Hoettges came on. West Germany lost that match and went on to win the tournament.
How many World Cups did East Germany qualify for?
One, in 1974, which is also the tournament that produced the Sparwasser goal. They were drawn in the same group as West Germany, won 0-1 in Hamburg, and went through to the second group stage. The country never qualified again before it ceased to exist in 1990.
Did East Germany win an Olympic gold medal in football?
Yes, at Montreal in 1976. The International Olympic Committee’s results for those Games list the German Democratic Republic as men’s football gold medallists, with Poland taking silver and the USSR bronze. RSSSF’s tournament file has East Germany qualifying from a group containing Brazil and Spain, drawing 0-0 with Brazil and beating Spain 1-0.
What happened to the East German league after reunification?
It finished its season. RSSSF files 1990-91 under the title “East Germany (Germany, RL Nordost)”, a league belonging to a country that had gone. It had started on 11 August 1990 and ran to the end, with fixtures on 5 and 6 October, days after reunification. The clubs were then sorted into the West German pyramid.
Which East German clubs made it into the Bundesliga?
Two: FC Hansa Rostock and 1. FC Dynamo Dresden. RSSSF records them qualifying for the Bundesliga for 1991-92 from the final East German season. The remaining clubs went into the Zweite Bundesliga, either directly or through play-offs, or dropped below that. Fourteen clubs contested that last season and two emerged at the top level.
What were the results in East Germany on the weekend after reunification?
Ordinary ones: on 5 October 1990 Hansa Rostock beat Viktoria Frankfurt 2-0, Energie Cottbus beat Sachsen Leipzig 4-1 and Carl Zeiss Jena drew 1-1 with Stahl Brandenburg. On 6 October Dynamo Dresden beat Rot-Weiss Erfurt 3-0 and Magdeburg beat Chemnitzer 4-0. Nothing about the fixture list acknowledged that the country had changed.
How long did the East Germany national team exist?
Thirty-eight years. RSSSF’s archive covers the side from 1952 to 1990, which brackets its entire international history. In that time it qualified for one World Cup, beat West Germany in it, and won an Olympic gold medal, before being wound up along with the state that ran it.
Why is 3 October 1990 marked as a football anniversary at all?
Because it is the date a national team stopped existing, which is rare enough to be worth marking even without a match attached. Countries usually leave football behind slowly, through relegation or decline. East Germany left it at a stroke, on a Wednesday, three weeks after playing its last match and two days before its league played on regardless.
The End of the East Germany National Team (1990)
One World Cup, one win over West Germany in it, one Olympic gold, and a last night in Brussels in front of ten thousand people, with both goals scored by a man who would win everything for the other side. Our On This Day series keeps turning up anniversaries the fixture list does not explain.
Watch More Football History
The Football Documentary Channel