Germany leads group D and will play Australia, Ghana and Serbia for a place in the second round.

Germany is one of the consistent premiere soccer teams in international play. They are three-time FIFA World Cup winners and will be looking for a fourth title. Only Brazil and Italy won more World Cup titles. Germany has appeared in every World Cup except for the 1930 and 1950 tournaments. In recent years, Germany was runner-up in the 2002 World Cup, third place in the last World Cup, and runner-up in the 2008 EuroCup. http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/team=43948/profile.html Anything less than the final stages of the tournament would be a disappointment.

Germany's top players will include high-scoring Miroslav Klose and team captain Michael Ballack. In the two months leading to the World Cup, Germany's coach Joachim Low was troubled by his team's physical form. Ballack and some of his teammates have been overcoming injuries. Germany was beaten 1-0 by Argentina in a recent friendly. Nonetheless, Low was confident that his team would be able to reach top form for the World Cup. http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=1193115.html#germany+form+troubles+low

In the days leading up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Germany has many of its players participating in high-profile games. Seven players from Bayern Munich and four from Werder Bremen played in the German Cup final.http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/news/germany-starts-wcup-preparations--fbintl_ap-wcup-germany.html Bayern Munich was also runner-up against Inter Milan at the UEFA Champions League. Captain Michael Ballack will be in Chelsea's FA Cup final. Thus, many of Germany's players will be coming from recent international competition to participate in the World Cup.