Germany at the 2002 FIFA World Cup Germany at the 2002 FIFA World Cup This article concerns the German national football team at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan. Germany had to play against England, Finland, Albania and Greece, managed by fellow German Otto Rehhagel. It was not to be an easy group, so much so as only the first placed team could qualify automatically. The start was promising with four wins in a row, including a 1-0 win against England at Wembley. Since England could only manage a draw away at Finland, automatic qualification should have been a foregone conclusion. In the
FIFA World Cup hosts banned in 2002), because there was only one organizing committee per joint bid, unlike Korea–Japan, which had two different organizing committees. Countries that announced their interest included Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Qatar, Russia, South Korea, United States, the joint bid of Spain and Portugal and the joint bid of Belgium and Netherlands. The hosts for both World Cups were announced by the FIFA Executive Committee on 2 December 2010. Russia was selected to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup, making it the first time that the World Cup will be hosted in Eastern Europe and making it the biggest country