Schweinsteiger on verge of EURO record against Northern Ireland

Germany will be looking to secure top spot in their European Championship group when they face Northern Ireland on Tuesday (18:00 CEST). The World Champions currently have four points on the board going into the match at the Parc des Princes in Paris. DFB.de takes a look at all the important facts and figures ahead of the clash against Northern Ireland.

Record I: Tuesday’s game will be Germany’s 914th international fixture. The record since the opening 5-3 loss to Switzerland on 5th April 1908 includes 530 wins, 184 draws and 199 losses, in which Die Mannschaft have scored 2,048 goals and conceded 1,085. 923 different players have been capped in that time, with Julian Brandt, Joshua Kimmich, Bernd Leno and Julian Weigl the most recent debutants in the 3-1 defeat to Slovakia.

Record II: The clash against Northern Ireland will be Joachim Löw’s 134th in the dugout. Germany have won 88 games since he took charge in August 2006, drawing 23 and losing 22. Löw has now moved ahead of former manager Helmut Schön in number of victories and now has record-holder Sepp Herberger (94 wins) in his sights.

Record III: Northern Ireland and Germany have faced each other on 14 occasions, which have seen eight wins for die Mannschaft (4 draws, 2 defeats). Germany have bagged 32 goals in these 14 matches and conceded 13 times. The first meeting between the countries was a 2-2 draw in the group stage of the World Cup in Sweden on 15th June 1958. Helmut Rahn and Uwe Seeler twice equalised for the reigning World Champions on that occasion as both sides reached the quarter finals. That match was the only previous tournament meeting between the sides. Northern Ireland celebrated their only victories over Germany in qualification for 1984 EUROs when the Brits clocked up two 1-0 wins. Germany narrowly qualified for the finals in France ahead of Northern Ireland, who were level on points but head-to-head record did not count at the time.

Record IV: The most recent encounter was a friendly in Belfast on 4th June 2005 as Germany prepared for the Confederations Cup with a 4-1 win under Jürgen Klinsmann. Michael Ballack bagged himself two goals, whilst Gerald Asamoah and Lukas Podolski also both got on the scoresheet. As well as Podolski, current captain Bastian Schweinsteiger was also involved in that match. Germany are unbeaten in seven games against Northern Ireland – four consecutive wins followed consecutive 1-1 draws in a row. Die Mannschaft have not conceded more than one goal per game against the Brits in any of the last twelve matches (4 clean sheets, 1 conceded on 8 occasions). The biggest victory over Northern Ireland came in a friendly in Cologne on 27th April 1977 as Klaus Fischer scored a brace in a 5-0 rout.

See you soon: Germany and Northern Ireland will face each other again in qualification for the 2018 World Cup. The group also contains the Czech Republic, Norway, San Marino and Azerbaijan.

Referee: Frenchman Clement Turpin will take charge of the game against Northern Ireland. The 34-year-old is France’s referee of the year. He officiated his first game of the EUROs on Tuesday as Austria lost 2-0 to Hungary in Bordeaux. Turpin handed out two yellow cards and also sent off Austria’s Aleksandar Dragovic in that match. Turpin also took charge of Germany’s 2-0 qualification win over Georgia in March 2015.

The matchday: Exactly 38 years ago on Tuesday, Germany were knocked out of the 1978 World Cup following a 3-2 loss to Austria in Cordoba. 30 years ago, die Mannschaft beat hosts Mexico 4-1 on penalties in the quarter finals of the 1986 World Cup following a goalless 120 minutes in Monterrey. Two years later, Germany were knocked out as hosts in the semi-finals of the 1988 EUROs as they lost 2-1 to the Netherlands on 21st June. On the same say in 1992, Germany beat hosts Sweden 3-2 to reach the final of the European Championship – a free kick from Thomas Häßler and a brace from Karl-Heinz Riedle settled the game for Germany. At the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, Germany qualified for the semi-finals with a 1-0 win over the USA on 21st June thanks to a goal from Michael Ballack. Two years ago on this date, Germany were on their way to winning the World Cup as they drew 2-2 with Ghana in the second group game. Mario Götze’s goal was cancelled out by Andre Ayew and then Asamoah Gyan before Miroslav Klose found an equaliser.

Stadium: Opened as a velodrome in 1897, football matches have been played at the current home of Paris Saint Germain since 1899, and the Tour de France also used to end here between 1903 and 1967. Until the opening of the Stade de France in Saint-Denis in 1998, the Parc des Prince was the national stadium for France and also where cup finals were held. The capacity is 48,000 spectators. The stadium is hosting its third European Championship, but for the first time will not host the final. The USSR beat Yugoslavia 2-1 (a.e.t.) in 1960 and France beat Spain 2-0 there in 1984. The stadium also hosted games at the 1938 World Cup. Germany were knocked out in the round of 16 by Switzerland on that occasion (4-2 in the replay after a 1-1 draw). 60 years later, Germany won its opening game of the 1998 World Cup 2-0 against the USA (goals from Möller and Klinsmann), which was Germany’s last game in the stadium to date.

Stadium II: Germany also played their third group game of the 1984 European Championship at the Parc des Princes. Germany were eliminated following a 1-0 loss to Spain. Antonio Maceda scored the only goal of the game in the 89th minute – a draw would have been enough for Germany to qualify for the semi-finals. Bayern won the 1975 European Cup final 2-0 against Leeds United in this stadium (goals from Franz Roth and Gerd Müller). Marc-André ter Stegen is the only currently Germany player to have won a competitive match at the Parc des Princes – 3-1 for Barcelona against PSG in the quarter final of the 2014/15 Champions League.

Stadium III: Northern Ireland have failed to score on their only two previous visits to the Parc des Princes – 0-0 vs. France in a friendly in February 1986 and a 4-0 loss in another friendly in March 1982. As well as three group-stage matches, the stadium will also host a round of 16 tie four days after the Northern Ireland game. The winner of Group B will face the third-place side from either Group A, C or D.

The opponents I: Northern Ireland have qualified for their first European Championship – their last tournament was the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. The British side have been to the World Cup on three occasions (1958, 1982 and 1986), with their greatest success coming in 1958 when they reached the quarter finals in Sweden (4-0 loss to France). Despite being in pot 5 for the draw, Northern Ireland won EURO qualification Group F with 21 points ahead of Romania, Hungary, Finland, the Faroe Islands and Greece. Their only loss came in the away game to Romania (2-0, plus 6 wins and 3 draws). Kyle Lafferty contributed to half of all their goals in qualification (8/16). He scored seven times in his nine appearances and assisted one.

The opponents II: Goalkeeper Pat Jennings is their record appearance holder with 119 caps (1964-1986). Their top goalscorer is David Healey with 36 goals in 95 appearances (2000-2013). Northern Ireland’s biggest ever win was a 7-0 thrashing of Wales on 1st February 1930 – the worst loss came against England on 18th February 1882 (13-0), which was their first ever match and also as a united Ireland.

The opponents III: 56% of Northern Irish goals in qualification came from set pieces (6 from corners, 3 from free kicks) – the highest proportion of the 24 sides at the finals. Gareth McAuley’s goal against Ukraine made him the second-oldest goalscorer in EURO history (36 years, 194 days) – only Ivica Vastic was older (38 years, 257 days, for Austria vs. Poland in 2008). Niall McGinn scored in the 96th minute in the 2-0 win over Ukraine, which was the latest goal ever scored at the European Championship in regular playing time. Northern Ireland are 25th in the current FIFA world rankings – their best placing since 1993. Germany are fourth.

The manager: As a player, Michael O’Neill made 31 appearances for his country. He won the double in 2002/03 with Glentoran in Ireland and also played five times for Coventry City in the Premier League. He has been in charge of Northern Ireland since December 2011 after winning the Irish championship with Shamrock Rovers in 2010 and 2011 and making them the first Irish team to play in the Europa League.

Irish abroad: Roy Carroll, who signed for Linfield in June, is the only player in this EURO squad to play in his native country. Four players ply their trade in Scotland, 17 in England and one in Australia. Will Grigg was the top scorer in League One with 25 goals in 40 games for Wigan Athletic as they achieved promotion back to the Championship.

Historical cross-overs: Oliver Bierhoff scored the quickest perfect hat trick in the history of the Germany national team in World Cup qualification in Belfast on 20th August 1997. He was brought on in the 70th minute for Ulf Kirsten with Germany 1-0 down and scored his goals between the 73rd and 79th minute to give Germany a 3-1 win. Two years later, on 8th September 1999, Bierhoff started the EURO qualifier against Northern Ireland and scored in just the third minute – Christian Ziege scored the last perfect hat trick by a Germany player in the 4-0 victory. Bierhoff scored four times as a Germany international against Northern Ireland, the same as against the Czech Republic and Moldova. Manager Michael O’Neill played briefly for Northern Ireland in their 1-1 friendly draw with Germany in Bremen in 1992.

Teammates: Paddy McNair and Bastian Schweinsteiger play together for Manchester United. Jonny Evans only saw Schweinsteiger briefly as he left United for West Bromwich in August 2015.

Run of form: After Germany went almost a year (8 matches) without a clean sheet, they are now on a run of three consecutive shut-outs for the first time since 2013/14 (November 2013 – May 2014).

Run of form II: Northern Ireland have lost just one of their last 14 matches (7 wins, 6 draws) – the 1-0 loss to Poland in the first game of the EUROs. Poland ended Northern Ireland’s longest ever run without defeat (12 games).

Run of form III: Germany have never lost a competitive game when Benedikt Höwedes has played (15 wins, 2 draws). The Schalke player was the best tackler on the pitch against Poland (80% of challenges won, minimum of 4).

Current run: Since data collection began in 1980, Germany have only once had more possession than they did in the draw with Poland (69.2%) – the 2012 quarter final against Greece (76.7%). Die Mannschaft did not allow Poland a single shot on target in that match – that has only previously happened for Germany in a European Championship in the 2-0 win over Denmark in the second group game of 1988.

The penalty area: 17 of the last 18 EURO goals scored by Germany have come from inside the box – only Philipp Lahm’s strike in the 4-2 win over Greece in 2012 came from outside the penalty area.

A team game: Germany’s last ten goals at European Championships have been scored by ten different players. The last nine goals by die Mannschaft have also been bagged by nine different players, including one own goal.

Kits: Germany will wear their white home jersey with the FIFA World Champions badge, black shorts and white socks against Northern Ireland.

EUROs record caps holder: Bastian Schweinsteiger’s brief but successful appearance against Ukraine drew him level with World Cup winning captain Philipp Lahm, who made 14 appearances at European Championships. Both Lukas Podolski (11) and Mario Gomez (10) have the chance to draw level with or overtake Lahm in France. French defender Lilian Thuram and Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar (both between 1996-2008) share the record with 16 appearances each.

EUROs top goalscorer: Former Germany coach Jürgen Klinsmann leads Germany’s EUROs all-time goalscorer charts with five goals in 13 games. However, just like Lahm’s milestone, “Klinsi” is also under threat of being overtaken. The candidates to beat the 1990 world champion and 1996 European champion’s successor are, among others, Podolski with four goals and Gomez with three. The French lead in this area too: former UEFA president Michel Platini scored nine goals to grab the record – all at EURO 1984. Schweinsteiger’s goal against Ukraine was the first scored by a substitute for Germany since Oliver Bierhoff’s brace in the 1996 final against Czech Republic. He scored after 01 minutes and 50 seconds – Germany’s latest ever EURO goal not in added time.

Record coach at EUROs: Joachim Löw became the all-time record holder during the match against Ukraine (12, now 13), overtaking with Berti Vogts on eleven games. The draw against Poland was the first ever under Löw at the EUROs (9 wins, 3 losses). The previous goalless draw involving Germany at the European Championship came in 2004 (the second group game against Latvia).

First goal: Shkodran Mustafi scored his first international goal against Ukraine, becoming the 34th German goalscorer at a European Championship – more than any other team. Germany’s last ten goals have been scored by ten different goal scorers.

EURO debutants: For ten of the 23 players in Löw’s squad, it will be the first European Championship of their career. For goalkeepers Bernd Leno and Marc-André ter Stegen, defenders Emre Can, Jonas Hector, Shkodran Mustafi and Jonathan Tah, as well as midfielders Julian Draxler, Joshua Kimmich, Julian Weigl and Leroy Sané, it is their first time in a EURO squad. Schalke’s captain Benedikt Höwedes was indeed called up to Löw’s squad four years ago in Poland and Ukraine, but he did not make an appearance. That soon changed – as for Draxler, Hector and Mustafi – when he played in Germany’s opener on Sunday.

Record players: Still leading the way with this record is Lothar Matthäus. The former World Footballer of the Year won 150 caps for Germany between 1980 and 2000. Of the still active players, Lukas Podolski is next in the list with 128 appearances, followed by captain Bastian Schweinsteiger who has featured for Die Mannschaft 116 times.

Record goalscorers: Germany’s all-time goalscorer charts are topped by Miroslav Klose, who netted 71 times, three more than Gerd Müller (68). However, Der Bomber only needed 62 caps for his tally, while Klose had notched up 137 appearances when he retired from international football. Lukas Podolski (48), Thomas Müller (32) and Mario Gomez (27) are the top scorers in the current squad. Bastian Schweinsteiger scored his 24th goal in his 116th Germany appearance, overtaking Lothar Matthäus and drawing elvel with Richard Hofmann. He is now 21st on the all-time goalscorer charts for Germany. Schweinsteiger scored his first goal for die Mannschaft since 7th October 2011 (3-1 vs. Turkey in EURO qualification) – 1710 days previously.

All-time EUROs table: Germany are ahead of title-holders Spain in the all-time EURO table. They have played 45 games across eleven tournaments, with a record of 24 victories, eleven draws and ten defeats. They have scored 67 and conceded 45 goals. Germany have won the European Championship three times: 1972 in Belgium, 1980 in Italy and 1996 in England. The Spaniards lie in second place with nine tournaments to their name (37 matches: W18, D11, L8; 51:32) and also three titles (1964, 2008, 2012).