2014 FIFA World Cup Final

The 2014 FIFA World Cup Final was a football match that took place on 13 July 2014 at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to determine the 2014 FIFA World Cup champion. Germany defeated Argentina 1-0 in extra time, with the only goal being scored by Mario Götze, who collected André Schürrle's cross from the left on his chest before volleying a high left-footed shot into the net. The match was the third final between the two countries, a World Cup record, after their 1986 and 1990 matches.

Before the match, Germany had reached the World Cup final seven times (six times as West Germany from 1954 to 1990), winning three (1954, 1974, 1990) and being runners-up four times (1966, 1982, 1986, 2002); Argentina had reached four finals, winning twice (1978, 1986) and placing second twice (1930, 1990).

The result marked Germany's fourth World Cup title, their first since German reunification, and the first World Cup won by a European team in the Americas. The victory meant that three consecutive World Cups have been won by teams from the same continent, following Italy and Spain in 2006 and 2010 respectively, the first time this has happened in World Cup history. With the win, Germany qualified for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.

In the winning German team, Miroslav Klose, who had become the top scorer in World Cup history in the semi-final victory over Brazil, became one of the very few players ever to have won gold, silver and bronze medals in the World Cup (bronze in 2006 and 2010, silver in 2002 and gold in 2014), joining an all-German club with such players as Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier and Wolfgang Overath (1966–1974) and Italy's Franco Baresi (gold in 1982 albeit as a reserve, bronze in 1990, and silver in 1994).

Summary
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 made two brief substitute appearances during the tournament. Kramer himself was later injured and substituted in the first half, for André Schürrle.

Argentina's Gonzalo Higuaín missed a good opportunity in the first half, dragging his shot wide after being put through on goal by a misjudged header from Toni Kroos. He had a goal disallowed later in the first half, when he was ruled offside after tapping in a cross by Ezequiel Lavezzi from the right wing. Lionel Messi wasted a chance early in the second half, firing wide of the German goal from inside the penalty area after receiving a through pass. In extra time, Rodrigo Palacio's lob over Manuel Neuer went just wide after the forward received a cross, missed by Mats Hummels, in the German penalty area.

Mario Götze of Germany scored during extra time, in the 113th minute, when he collected Schürrle’s cross from the left on his chest before volleying left-footed into the net. He became the first substitute to score a World Cup-winning goal, as well as the youngest player to score in a World Cup Final since German Wolfgang Weber in 1966 (same age, 22). Prior to Götze's goal, Germany came close to scoring on a number of occasions, including a header by Benedikt Höwedes that struck the Argentine goalpost just before halftime. Schürrle later struck a close-range shot straight at Argentine goalkeeper Sergio Romero early in the first half of extra time, after a pass from Götze.

Late in extra time, Messi had a free kick within goal-scoring distance, which would have equalised, but he hit it over the crossbar.