Joachim Low walks away after 15 years in charge of Germany leaving a misfiring side short of confidence but having enjoyed many years of consistent performances that culminated in the 2014 Fifa World Cup victory.

The Germans bowed out of Euro 2020 after a disappointing display in the 2-0 last 16 defeat to England on Tuesday at Wembley, which was Low’s 198th and final game in charge.

His record of 124 wins, 40 draws and 34 defeats since 2006 is impressive.

Low had the high of winning the 2014 World Cup, including the remarkable 7-1 thrashing of hosts Brazil in the semi-finals, but his tenure was tarnished by the low of finishing bottom of the group four years later in Russia, which still haunts the Germans.

Low though has managed the German national team more times than any previous manager in history and has the third-best win% among all managers. He is the second longest-serving manager in their history.

List of top German football team managers

Manager Matches managed Wins Draws Losses Win%
Joachim Low 198 125 39 34 63.13
Sepp Herberger 162 96 26 44 56.79
Helmut Schon 139 87 31 21 62.59
Berti Vogs 102 66 24 12 64.71
Otto Nerz 75 44 11 20 61.11
Jupp Derwall 67 44 12 11 65.67

As far as the all-time list is concerned, Low is eleventh in the list for longest-serving managers in international football history. Among these top eleven manager, he is only one among two to have won the Fifa World Cup.

Longest serving coaches in i'national football

Rank Manager National team From To Length
1  Guillermo Stábile  Argentina 13 August 1939 15 June 1958 18 years, 10 months and 2 days
2  Vittorio Pozzo  Italy 1 December 1929 5 August 1948 18 years, 8 months and 4 days
3  Hugo Meisl  Austria 5 October 1919[133] 17 February 1937 17 years, 4 months and 12 days
4  Walter Winterbottom  England 28 September 1946 21 November 1962 16 years, 1 month and 24 days
5  Paul Philipp  Luxembourg 25 September 1985 10 June 2001 15 years, 8 months and 16 days
6  John Albin Pettersson  Sweden 26 March 1921 27 September 1936 15 years, 6 months and 1 day
7  Morten Olsen  Denmark 1 July 2000 17 November 2015 15 years, 4 months and 16 days
8  Óscar Tabárez  Uruguay 7 March 2006 Present 15 years, 3 months and 23 days
9  Bob Glendenning  Netherlands 15 March 1925 21 April 1940 15 years, 1 month and 6 days
10  Giampaolo Mazza  San Marino 10 October 1998 15 October 2013 15 years and 5 days
11  Joachim Löw  Germany 12 July 2006 29 June 2021 14 years, 11 months and 17 days

‘Unforgettable moments’

“In these 15 years, there were a lot of things that were very positive,” Low insisted at Wembley.

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“We have developed steadily, the World Cup title in 2014, the Confederation Cup victory in 2017 with a young team.

“There have been moments that are unforgettable,” added the 61-year-old.

Yet Low admitted his team had experienced “some problems since 2018” and that there had been “a lot of difficult periods” like the unforgettable 6-0 thrashing by Spain last November, which sparked his decision to step down.

‘So bleak’

As the Berliner Zeitung newspaper gloomily commented in the aftermath of the Wembley defeat, “Low leaves his successor Flick a complicated legacy”.

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Low treated his football-mad nation to consistent success up until the 2018 World Cup so the fall from grace, from top ranking to currently 12th in the world, has been hard on German supporters.

“The ambition, the will, the fighting spirit was missing,” said 2014 World Cup winner Lukas Podolski.

“It all seemed so bleak. If you look at the players’ faces - nothing is happening.

“I think a fire could break out in the stadium, they would stay on the pitch,” he added.

Podolski fears for the future: “It’s not like we have ten other players who weren’t picked, but should have been there.”

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Flick, who steered Bayern Munich to a treble of Bundesliga title, German Cup and Champions League in 2019-’20, is determined to get Germany back to their best.

“I see the class of the players, especially the youngsters in Germany, so we have every reason to approach the upcoming tournaments with optimism,” Flick said in May.

His job remit is crystal clear.

“We have a big common goal - to get back to the top of the world,” said his boss Oliver Bierhoff, director of the Germany team.

(With AFP inputs)