 East Germany, however, again failed to qualify; finishing second in the group behind the Soviet Union.In 1988, Thom took over from goalkeeper René Müller as captain of the national side for six matches, including their first two qualifying games for World Cup against Iceland and Turkey.He scored in both of these World Cup qualifiers, both goals in East Germany's 2–0 win over Iceland and their solitary goal in a 3–1 defeat against Turkey in Istanbul.