England vs. Germany: Last 5 meetings | UEFA Euro 2020 

#3 England 0-1 Germany (2002 World Cup qualifier)

Didi Hamann's free-kick gave Germany a victory at Wembley in 2000

Germany didn’t have to wait long at all for revenge on England for their loss at Euro 2000. The two rivals were drawn together in the qualifying stages for the 2002 World Cup, and so just four months after their match in Charleroi, they faced off again.

This time, the game was a historic one as it was the final match to be played at the old Wembley Stadium before the famed ‘twin towers’ were torn down in order to build the new stadium.

England fans were hoping for a repeat of the 1966 World Cup final – or at least their Euro 2000 win – but it wasn’t to be.

A dull, rain-soaked game was won by a Dietmar Hamman free-kick after just 14 minutes. England tried desperately to find an equaliser, but lacked the craft and nuance, and the game petered out with Rudi Voller’s side picking up a big win.

The drama wasn’t done there, however, as England boss Kevin Keegan resigned in shame after the match, leaving English football in a state of total disarray.

In essence, this was one of the darkest days in Three Lions history.

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#2 Germany 1-5 England (2002 World Cup qualifier)

Michael Owen hit a hat-trick as England thumped Germany 1-5 in 2001

Just shy of a year after that fateful game at Wembley, a much-changed England travelled to Munich to face off with Germany with a spot at the 2002 World Cup essentially on the line.

New boss Sven-Goran Eriksson had ushered younger, more vibrant players into the England squad, and the likes of Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard and and Emile Heskey were determined to settle the score with their rivals.

Germany actually took the lead in the game, with Carsten Jancker scoring after just nine minutes. However, England began to take over the match, and found an equaliser just minutes later through Owen.

Gerrard fired England into the lead on the stroke of half-time with a wonderful long-range goal, but even the most optimistic Three Lions fan could never have anticipated what would happen next.

Eriksson’s side went goal-crazy in the second half, tearing Germany apart with their attacking play and making Rudi Voller’s side look stuck in the mud. Owen completed his hat-trick, and finally Heskey added a goal too, giving England a ludicrous 1-5 win.

The match was the first time Germany had lost a World Cup qualifier on home soil, and it was also their heaviest defeat since a 1958 loss to France.

England would go onto the World Cup much-buoyed by the result, but somehow the Germans had the last laugh. They made it to the tournament via a play-off – and then went all the way to the final, while Eriksson’s men had to settle for a quarter-final elimination.

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#1 Germany 4-1 England (2010 World Cup)

Germany sent England packing from the 2010 World Cup with a 4-1 thumping

Incredibly, the most recent competitive meeting between Germany and England took place over a decade ago, in the round of 16 at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Coming into the game, the trajectory of the teams could not have been further apart.

A highly rated and experienced England side were favoured as genuine World Cup contenders, but laboured through a weak group that included the USA, Algeria and Slovenia. Germany, meanwhile, had eased through their group, scoring five goals in the process despite a shock loss to Serbia.

Many observers still favoured the more experienced England side, but some woeful defending early in the game put Germany 2-0 ahead after just half an hour, with goals coming from Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski.

England hit back before half-time, pulling a goal back from a Matthew Upson header. And minutes later, they appeared to have equalised when Frank Lampard’s shot clearly beat Manuel Neuer. Somehow, though, referee Jorge Larrionda erroneously believed the ball hadn’t crossed the line – and chalked off the goal.

That meant that Fabio Capello’s Three Lions came into the second half knowing that they needed to attack. However, that only left holes at the back, and Joachim Low’s young German side ran riot, scoring another two goals to unceremoniously dump England out of the tournament.

The loss was the heaviest ever suffered by an England side in a World Cup and signalled the end for the much-hyped ‘Golden Generation’, while Germany progressed to the semi-finals, only to fall to eventual winners Spain.