Germany Becomes 1st Team to Reach 4 Straight World Cup Semifinals

With a hard-fought 1-0 win over France in the quarterfinals, Germany punched their ticket to the semifinals of the World Cup for the fourth consecutive time, becoming the first nation to ever achieve the feat, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Germany also extended their record for most semifinals appearances, making it to the final four for the 12th time in the tournament's history.

Despite their success in reaching the latter stages of the World Cup, the Germans have not won it since West Germany captured the trophy back in 1990 thanks to a 1-0 win over Argentina.

And while they reached the final in 2002 against Brazil, they failed to win their semifinal matches in both 2006 and 2010, losing to Italy and Spain, respectively.

Their 2014 semifinal will be a potential revenge game for the 2002 defeat, as the Germans will face a Brazil side that defeated Colombia on Friday to set up the rematch. However, Brazil figures to be at a huge disadvantage, with two star players unable to play.

Superstar Neymar suffered a fractured vertebra during the Colombia match and has been ruled out for the remainder of the World Cup. Additionally, defender Thiago Silva picked up his second yellow card of the tournament on Friday, which will make him ineligible to play in the semifinal. With those two massive pieces missing for Brazil, Germany will have an excellent shot at redemption, despite the hostile crowd.