However, this time the 57-year-old is aiming to repeat the trick as the main man in the dugout having taken charge of his country 18 months ago.
The Germans turned to Flick after a disastrous 2018 campaign saw them dumped out in the group stages and he had just led Bayern Munich to a Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Champions League treble.
He will be hoping for a strong start to his first World Cup campaign as national team boss against Japan on Wednesday.
Below are the projected lineups for both teams.
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Germany vs Japan lineups
Flick made no attempt to hide just how big a blow the loss of Leroy Sane to a knee injury is for Germany when speaking ahead of their opening game.
“It is extremely bitter to have to play without Leroy because with his qualities he is a player who can turn a game around by himself,” he said.
“Hopefully he can play on Sunday [against Spain]. The whole medical staff are working on it.”
The 26-year-old has scored 11 times in 48 caps for his country and is sure to be key to their hopes of going deep in the tournament.
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Germany confirmed starting 11
(4-2-3-1, right to left): 1. Neuer (GK) — 23. Schlotterbeck, 15. Sule, 2. Rudiger, 3. Raum — 6. Kimmich, 21. Gundogan — 14. Musiala, 10. Gnabry, 13. Muller – 7. Havertz
Injured: Sane Suspended: none
With Sane out of the opener due to a knee injury, Flick has combined Thomas Muller and Kai Havertz as part of his attack.
Borussia Dortmund centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck, 22, starts in defence in his first senior appearance at a finals tournament.
Japan confirmed starting 11
(4-3-3, right to left): 12. Gonda (GK) — 19. Sakai, 4. Itakura, 16. Yoshida, 5. Nagatomo — 7. Tanaka 6. Endo, 14. Ito — 15. Kamada 18. Kubo, 10. Maeda
Injured: none Suspended: none
Wataru Endo (head) returns to action for Japan but there is no place in the starting lineup for Monaco attacker Takumi Minamino or Brighton & Hove Albion winger Kaoru Mitoma, who was thought to have recovered from an injury he suffered shortly before the start of the finals.
Midfielder Hidemasa Morita is not risked having only just overcome a calf problem, meaning Gaku Shibasaki gets the nod instead.
Germany vs Japan World Cup squads
Here are the 26 names on each team’s squad lists at the World Cup in Qatar:
