Fuβball ist König! Soccer is king!

Without question, the most popular sport in Germany, and in all of Europe, is der Fußball (soccer). Just as many American boys and girls grow up playing baseball, basketball or football, most German children grow up playing Fußball.

In contrast to America, however, German schools have no organized sports leagues or teams, so German children who wish to play on a soccer team - or any other type of sports team - must join a local Verein (club or recreation center) dedicated to that sport.

Throughout Europe the word football, if used in English, strictly refers to soccer. If Germans wish to speak about American football (college or NFL), they will invariably say "American football."

Germany was the host of the 2006 Weltmeisterschaft (World Cup). Die Weltmeisterschaft is the equivalent of a world-scale Super Bowl for soccer fans, so as you can imagine, it is enormously popular in Germany and all over the world. Unfortunately, Germany lost to Italy 2-0 in 2006.

In 2014 however, Germany beat Argentina 1-0 to win its 4^th World Cup title in Brazil. Germany has won the World Cup four times (1954, 1974, 1990, and 2014) and has been the runner-up on a further four occasions (1966, 1982, 1986, 2002). The 2014 Weltmeister team is pictured on this page.