Hansi Flick has been sacked as Germany manager following Saturday's 4-1 friendly defeat by Japan in Wolfsburg.

He became the first German boss to be sacked since the role was created in 1926.

Germany have lost four of their past five games, with Flick overseeing just 12 wins in his 25 matches since replacing Joachim Low in August 2021.

Rudi Voller, who managed the team from 2000 to 2004, takes temporary charge for Tuesday's friendly with France.

The 63-year-old Voller, a former Germany striker, was appointed director of the German national side in February.

Hannes Wolf and Sandro Wagner will assist him.

Germany will host the men's European Championship next year but has been in disarray.

Flick, 58, had been Low's assistant manager with Germany from 2006 to 2014.

His time in charge began with eight successive wins, but their form progressively worsened, and Germany exited last year's World Cup at the group stage.

His assistants, Marcus Sorg and Danny Rohl, have also been dismissed.

Oman, Costa Rica and Peru are the only teams Germany has beaten in the past 12 months.

The disappointing performance was a surprise, considering Flick won 70 of his 86 games in charge of Bayern Munich from November 2019 to June 2021.

Under Flick, Bayern won a treble of the domestic league and cup and Champions League titles in the 2019-20 season.

The German FA said it hoped to announce Flick's full-time replacement "as soon as possible".

Julian Nagelsmann, who replaced Flick as Bayern boss at the end of 2020-21, could be a leading contender. The highly-rated 38-year-old has been out of work since Bayern sacked him in March.