As the reigning World Cup champions, Germany are viewed as one of the heavy favorites to challenge for the Euro 2016 title in France this summer.

Of course, die Mannschaft will face some stiff competition from the current holders Spain, as well as of course hosts France and a slew of other sides. Let's take a look at how Germany have performed at past Euro tournaments and over the past year leading up to the big event this June.

Germany's Euro record

With the exception of Euro 1968, Germany have qualified for every single edition of this tournament starting from 1972. They opted not to enter a team for the 1960 and 1964 editions. And to date, they have won the Euro three times. Only Spain can match this impressive record. In fact, save for three instances - 1984, 2000, and 2004 - Germany have finished either as winners, runners-up, or in third place in every other Euro competition.

Their last win took place in the 1996 edition, which was contested in England. In Euro 2012, die Mannschaft made it to the semi-finals, where they were beaten 2-1 by Italy. Four years prior to that, they were able to reach the final, but a solitary goal from Fernando Torres was enough to give Spain their second overall Euro trophy.

This June will mark Germany's 11th UEFA European Championship appearance.

Germany's current form

Germany were largely untroubled during their Euro qualifiers, with seven wins, two losses, and one draw. One of their defeats was a 2-0 reversal versus Poland. The most surprising results, however, were against the Republic of Ireland. Many had certainly expected Joachim Löw's men to have no trouble dealing with them - but instead of picking up six points, die Mannschaft ended up with only one.

In any case, Germany were still able to narrowly top their group with 22 points, one ahead of Poland, and ironically will be facing this same team at this summer's tournament. Thomas Müller was the team's top goal scorer in qualifiers with nine goals.

On November 13, 2015, Germany were playing in a friendly match against France in Paris that was supposed to be an evening of celebration for football fans. Unfortunately, the events were marred by a series of terrorist attacks across the French capital and as a result, a later friendly against the Netherlands was cancelled for security reasons.

Since the start of 2016, Germany have featured in two friendlies. The first was against England, in which they lost 3-2. The second was a day German fans will surely remember, as they finally ended their long wait for a win over Italy by thrashing the Azzurri 4-1 on March 29th.

In terms of rankings, Germany are currently fifth in the world as per FIFA and second in UEFA.

The man on the tactician's bench

Former attacking midfielder Joachim Löw has been in charge of the German national team since July 2006 after serving as assistant manager to Jürgen Klinsmann for about two years. The 56-year-old enjoyed quite a long career at club level as a player, but only played a few times for the German under-21 team - so never featured in a Euro tournament himself.

However, having been on the tactician's bench for nearly a decade, this will be his third Euro tournament. And after being beaten in the finals (in 2008) and then in the semi-finals (in 2012) Löw will be certainly eager to finally get his hands on the Euro trophy this summer.

Having already won a World Cup two years ago, Löw now has his eyes on adding a Euro title to his CV

Per Mertesacker, Miroslav Klose and Philipp Lahm will be among those Löw will not be able to count on for this Euro tournament as all three opted to retire from international duty after the 2014 World Cup. However, although some of the personnel will change, most of the core group will remain intact - starting from the back, with Manuel Neuer between the sticks and Jérôme Boateng and Mats Hummels as the first-choice center-back pairing. And although he has chosen to select three strikers, he could opt to deploy Müller up front, supported by the likes of Mesut Özil and André Schürrle.

UEFA Euro 2016 broadcasters in Germany

All Euro 2016 matches will be broadcast on free-to-air television and streamed live online in Germany. Public broadcasters ARD and ZDF acquired the rights for the tournament’s transmission on TV and on their digital services, and they will both combine to cover 45 games on their networks. ARD will show 22 matches, while ZDF will air 23.

Following a sublicense agreement however, private channel Sat.1 will telecast six group stage matches on TV. Live streaming of these select matches will be available on Ran.de.

Go to Germany's page for the team's full UEFA Euro 2016 fixtures and global online and TV listings.

Germany's Euro 2016 roster

Here is Germany's official 23-man squad for Euro 2016:

Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Manuel Neuer, Germany, Squad, Roster, Euro 2016, UEFA European Championship

 

Match details, result and original broadcast info

Germany 2 - 0 Ukraine

June 12, 2016 3:00pmGrand Stade Lille Métropole

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Germany 0 - 0 Poland

June 16, 2016 3:00pmStade de France, France

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Northern Ireland 0 - 1 Germany

June 21, 2016 12:00pmParc des Princes, France

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