After the division of Germany in 1949, West Germany was declared Germany's official successor team. East Germany was accepted as a FIFA member only in 1952 and entered the qualification tournament for the first time for 1958, but finished last in their qualification group behind Czechoslovakia and Wales.
They appeared in the finals of the FIFA World Cup on one occasion in 1974. During the tournament they played West Germany, who were hosts in that year, for the first and only time at senior level, winning 1–0. East Germany was reunified with West Germany in 1990 and did not compete again after the 1990 World Cup.
Record at the FIFA World Cup edit
| FIFA World Cup finals record | Qualifications record | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Squad | Pos | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
 1954
|
Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||||
 1958
|
Did not qualify | 3rd | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 12 | |||||||||
 1962
|
3rd | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||||||||||
 1966
|
2nd | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | ||||||||||
 1970
|
2nd | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7 | ||||||||||
 1974
|
Second group stage | 6th | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | Squad | 1st | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 3 | |
 1978
|
Did not qualify | 2nd | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 4 | |||||||||
 1982
|
2nd | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 6 | ||||||||||
| 1986
|
3rd | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 9 | ||||||||||
 1990
|
4th | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 13 | ||||||||||
| Total | Second group stage | 1/10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | — | – | 47 | 22 | 8 | 17 | 87 | 65 | |
- *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks
By match edit
| World Cup | Round | Opponent | Score | Result | Venue | Scorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Group stage |  Australia |
2–0 | W | Hamburg | C. Curran (o.g.), J. Streich |
| Chile |
1–1 | D | Berlin | M. Hoffmann | ||
| West Germany |
1–0 | W | Hamburg | J. Sparwasser | ||
| Second round |  Brazil |
0–1 | L | Hanover | — | |
 Netherlands |
0–2 | L | Gelsenkirchen | — | ||
| Argentina |
1–1 | D | Gelsenkirchen | J. Streich |
Record by opponent edit
| FIFA World Cup matches (by team) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Wins | Draws | Losses | Total | Goals Scored | Goals Conceded |
| Argentina |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Australia |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
 Brazil |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Chile |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Netherlands |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| West Germany |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
East Germany at 1974 World Cup edit
First Round, Group 1 edit
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 East Germany
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 5 |
| West Germany
|
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 4 |
| Chile
|
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 2 |
| Australia
|
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 1 |
| Chile | 1 – 1 | East Germany |
|---|---|---|
Ahumada  69' |
Report | Hoffmann 55' |
| East Germany | 1 – 0 | West Germany |
|---|---|---|
| Sparwasser 77' |
Report |
Second Round, Group A edit
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands
|
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | +8 | 6 |
| Brazil
|
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| East Germany
|
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 1 |
 Argentina
|
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 1 |
| Brazil | 1 – 0 | East Germany |
|---|---|---|
| Rivellino 60' |
Report |
| East Germany | 0 – 2 | Netherlands |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Neeskens 13' Rensenbrink 59' |
| Argentina | 1 – 1 | East Germany |
|---|---|---|
| Houseman 20' |
Report | Streich 14' |
Record players edit
| Rank | Player | Matches |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bernd Bransch | 6 |
| Jürgen Croy | 6 | |
| Martin Hoffmann | 6 | |
| Gerd Kische | 6 | |
| Jürgen Sparwasser | 6 | |
| Konrad Weise | 6 | |
| 7 | Harald Irmscher | 4 |
| Lothar Kurbjuweit | 4 | |
| Wolfram Löwe | 4 | |
| Joachim Streich | 4 | |
| Siegmar Wätzlich | 4 |
Top goalscorers edit
| Rank | Player | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joachim Streich | 2 |
| 2 | Martin Hoffmann | 1 |
| Jürgen Sparwasser | 1 |