2014 FIFA World Cup and Italy. Uruguay were eliminated in the round of 16, and France exited in the quarter-finals. Host nation Brazil, who had won the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, lost to Germany 7–1 in the semi-finals and eventually finished in fourth place. In the final, Germany defeated Argentina 1–0 to win the tournament and secure the country's fourth world title, the first after the German reunification in 1990, when as West Germany they also beat Argentina in the World Cup final. Germany became the first European team to win a World Cup staged in the Americas, and this result marked the third
2014 FIFA World Cup Final the Argentina–Belgium quarter-final. He had previously taken charge of the 2010 UEFA Europa League Final and the 2013 UEFA Champions League Final. He was also one of the referees at the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Euro 2012 and the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He became the third Italian referee to take charge of a World Cup final, after Sergio Gonella in 1978 and Pierluigi Collina in 2002. Both teams named unchanged starting line-ups from their semi-finals, but German midfielder Sami Khedira withdrew during the warm-up with a calf injury. He was replaced by Christoph Kramer, who had