Late 1970s and early 1980s - Germany

West Germany failed to defend their titles in the next two major international tournaments. First they lost to Czechoslovakia in the final of Euro 76 in a penalty shootout by a score of 5-3, after the match finished 2-2. Then in the 1978 World Cup, they were eliminated in the second group stage after losing 3-2 to Austria. Schön retired as coach afterwards, and the post was taken over by his assistant Jupp Derwall.

West Germany's first tournament under Derwall was successful, as they won Euro 80 after beating Belgium 2-1 in the final, their second European title. West Germany then reached the final of the 1982 World Cup, but not without difficulties. They were upset 2-1 by Algeria in their first match, but managed to sneak into the second round with a controversial 1-0 win over Austria as the result advanced both teams at the expense of Algeria. Then in their semi-final against France, they came back from 3-1 down during extra time to tie the match 3-3, and won the following penalty shootout 5-4. In the final, they were comfortably defeated by Italy by a score of 3-1.