Germany will face England in the final of the UEFA U21 European Championships after a convincing 3-0 win over France at the Košická Futbalová Aréna. Worryingly for England, Germany are now unbeaten in 20 matches and are aiming for their fourth U21 title.
Germany are no strangers to this stage, having reached the final in three of the last four editions of the tournament. They didn’t waste any time either, taking the lead early on. Paul Nebel’s shot hit the underside of the bar, but Nelson Weiper reacted quickly to volley in the rebound from close range.
Just six minutes later, Germany doubled their lead. Nick Woltemade, the tournament’s top scorer, scored his sixth goal after his first shot was saved by Guillaume Restes, but he made no mistake with the follow-up.
France didn’t give up and had some good moments. Djaoui Cissé and Wilson Odobert both forced solid saves from German goalkeeper Noah Atubolu, while Matthis Abline came close with a powerful strike just before half-time.
In the second half, France made an early change due to injury, bringing on Thierno Barry. He nearly made an instant impact, but again Atubolu pulled off a great save. France kept pushing, and Barry had a header saved from close range as frustration began to grow.
Germany could have sealed it earlier, but Woltemade surprisingly missed an easy header. Soon after, Merlin Röhl had a shot saved too. France kept the pressure on with a series of corners and Barry hit the post with another header, but the goal just wouldn’t come.
Germany made sure of the win in stoppage time. Paul Wanner squared the ball to Brajan Gruda, who tapped in to make it 3-0 and add the finishing touch to a dominant performance.
Now, Germany and England will renew their historic rivalry in the final in Bratislava. The two sides met in the group stage, where Germany won 2-1, but England have come out on top in the last two competitive meetings. As for France, their long wait to return to a U21 final continues, it’s now been 25 years since their last appearance.
