The 2014 World Cup: Germany 7-1 Brazil and Götze's Final Goal

The 2014 World Cup: a brief history

The 2014 World Cup was the twentieth edition of the FIFA tournament, held in Brazil between 12 June and 13 July 2014. Germany beat Argentina 1-0 after extra time at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro on 13 July 2014, with substitute Mario Götze scoring in the 113th minute to give Germany their fourth World Cup. The tournament has been most-remembered for the semi-final at the Mineirão in Belo Horizonte, in which Germany beat host nation Brazil 7-1, with five goals scored in a single 18-minute spell, in what remains the most-discussed single match of the modern era.

The host context: Brazil''s second tournament

FIFA awarded the 2014 World Cup to Brazil in 2007, the first time the tournament had returned to South America since 1978 in Argentina. The award was politically straightforward, FIFA had been operating an informal continental rotation in the post-1990 era, but the tournament arrived against significant domestic political turbulence. The June 2013 protests across Brazilian cities, originally over public transport fares, had taken on broader anti-government dimensions and the World Cup itself became a focus of discontent over public spending priorities. The phrase "Não vai ter Copa" (there won''t be a World Cup) appeared on banners across host cities through the 2013-14 build-up.

Twelve venues were used. The Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro hosted the final, having been substantially renovated since the 1950 trophy. Goal-line technology was introduced for the first time at a World Cup; vanishing spray was used by referees to mark the wall position at free-kicks. Both innovations have been used at every subsequent tournament.

Group stage and the Brazil opener

The opening match at the Arena de São Paulo on 12 June 2014 produced a 3-1 Brazilian win over Croatia. Croatian forward Marcelo scored the first own goal of the tournament; Neymar twice and Oscar replied. The match included a contested 71st-minute penalty awarded by Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura that has been the subject of subsequent debate.

The most-celebrated single group-stage match was Spain''s opening 5-1 defeat to the Netherlands at Salvador on 13 June 2014. Robin van Persie''s 44th-minute flying header, taken across the body to nod a Daley Blind cross over Iker Casillas, has been replayed in countless retrospectives. Spain went on to lose their second group game 2-0 to Chile and exit the tournament, becoming the first reigning champions to be eliminated at the group stage of the immediately subsequent World Cup since Italy in 2010 (and France in 2002 before them).

Costa Rica produced one of the great group-stage runs in World Cup history. Drawn in a "Group of Death" with Uruguay, Italy and England, the country won the group with seven points, beating Uruguay 3-1 and Italy 1-0. Costa Rica went on to a quarter-final exit on penalties against the Netherlands.

Other group-stage moments: Luis Suárez was banned for four months by FIFA after biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini in Uruguay''s 1-0 win over Italy at Natal on 24 June 2014, the third biting incident of his career. Suárez missed the rest of the tournament and the start of the 2014-15 club season at Liverpool, then transferred to Barcelona shortly afterwards.

The knockout stages

The round of 16 produced several notable matches: the Netherlands beat Mexico 2-1 with two stoppage-time goals (Wesley Sneijder and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar penalty), Costa Rica beat Greece on penalties, France beat Nigeria 2-0, and Germany beat Algeria 2-1 in extra time at Porto Alegre after one of the most intense knockout-stage matches of the tournament.

The quarter-finals produced a Brazilian win over Colombia (2-1, with Neymar suffering a tournament-ending fractured vertebra after a contested Juan Camilo Zúñiga knee in the back). Germany beat France 1-0 (Mats Hummels header). The Netherlands beat Costa Rica on penalties 4-3 with Tim Krul saving twice after replacing first-choice goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen specifically for the shootout. Argentina beat Belgium 1-0 with a Gonzalo Higuaín strike.

Brazil 1-7 Germany

The semi-final between host nation Brazil and Germany at the Mineirão in Belo Horizonte on 8 July 2014 has been replayed in football media more than any other single match of the modern era. Brazil were missing both Neymar (injured in the quarter-final) and captain Thiago Silva (suspended for receiving two yellow cards). David Luiz captained the side. The Mineirão was full to capacity (58,141 spectators).

The match was 1-0 to Germany after 11 minutes through a Thomas Müller goal. Then, in an 18-minute spell from the 23rd to the 29th minute, Miroslav Klose, Toni Kroos (twice) and Sami Khedira all scored. The score at the half-time whistle was 5-0. André Schürrle added the sixth and seventh in the second half, with Oscar pulling one back for Brazil in the 90th minute. The 7-1 result has been the most-discussed single match of the modern era.

Klose''s 23rd-minute goal made him the all-time leading scorer at the World Cup with 16 goals across four tournaments (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014), surpassing Ronaldo''s 15. The German forward retired from international football after the tournament with the record intact.

The other semi-final was a 1-0 Argentine win over the Netherlands on penalties (after a 0-0 draw across 120 minutes). Sergio Romero saved twice; Maxi Rodríguez converted the decisive penalty.

The final

The final, played at the Maracanã on 13 July 2014 in front of 74,738 spectators, ended in a 1-0 German win after extra time. Substitute Mario Götze, who had come on for Miroslav Klose in the 88th minute, scored the winner in the 113th minute. André Schürrle''s left-flank cross was controlled by Götze on his chest before he volleyed across goalkeeper Sergio Romero into the bottom-left corner. Bayern Munich legend Götze had been named in the squad ahead of more experienced forwards in part because of his reputation for late-match impact; coach Joachim Löw''s pre-substitution instruction to Götze, reported as "show the world you''re better than Messi", has been replayed in countless retrospectives.

The match also included Lionel Messi''s closing chances. The Argentine captain had been named the tournament''s Golden Ball winner before the final whistle and was visibly subdued in the closing ceremony. The 2014 final loss extended Argentina''s 28-year wait for a third World Cup.

Lasting figures

Mario Götze''s extra-time winner has been replayed in countless retrospectives. He had won the Bundesliga at Borussia Dortmund and joined Bayern Munich in 2013. The 2014 trophy was the high point of his career; he subsequently moved to Eindhoven in the Netherlands and Frankfurt back in Germany, never quite recapturing his 2014 form.

Joachim Löw, the German head coach, won the World Cup in his eighth year in charge of the national team (he had been Jürgen Klinsmann''s assistant in 2006 and took over after the tournament). The trophy completed his major-tournament-of-the-tournament finishing record of third (2010), runners-up at Euro 2008, and now the trophy itself.

Miroslav Klose retired with 16 World Cup goals, the all-time record. The Polish-born German forward had played for Werder Bremen, Bayern Munich and Lazio across his career. He went on to a coaching role within the Bayern Munich academy.

James Rodríguez of Colombia won the Golden Boot with six goals, including a 30-yard volley against Uruguay in the round of 16 that has been voted FIFA Goal of the Tournament. He moved to Real Madrid for €80 million immediately after the tournament.

Germany's 7-1 demolition of Brazil and the Mineiraço

Germany's 7-1 defeat of Brazil in the semi-final remains the most lopsided result in World Cup history (in terms of margin of victory in a knockout match at this stage). The match exposed Brazil's defensive fragility and Germany's superior organisation and efficiency. The result, known as the 'Mineiraço' (tragedy of Minas Gerais, the host state), dealt a psychological blow to Brazilian football from which the nation took years to recover.

Müller's (Thomas Müller's) performances throughout the tournament established him as one of the outstanding forwards of the era, though his inability to replicate that form at subsequent World Cups suggests that 2014 represented the peak of his tournament career.

Lionel Messi's world dominance and Argentina's run

Argentina's run to the final was built on Messi's individual performances. The Argentine forward won the Golden Ball as the tournament's outstanding player, establishing him as the world's best player at that moment. Messi's performances in knockout matches (particularly against Belgium, Netherlands and Germany) were extraordinary, yet Germany's victory in the final on Mario Götze's extra-time goal meant that Messi's individual excellence could not produce the team trophy he sought.

Reading on

For more on Germany''s broader World Cup record, see our team-history piece on Germany at the World Cup. The World Cup history hub covers every tournament from 1930 to 2026.