🔎🇩🇪 Germany at EURO 2025: High hopes as a new era begins | OneFootball

Finalists in 2022 and eight-time winners, Germany are in EURO 2025 action on Friday. Here's what you need to know as they kick off their campaign in Switzerland ...

📚 What's the story?

Recent tournament history has brought surprises for Germany. Firstly there was a pleasant one, as they made it to the final of EURO 2022 and took England to extra-time at Wembley. Then came the punch in the gut of failing to make it out of the group stage at the 2023 World Cup.

There's always expectation around Germany, seven-time European champions, but a little less this time around with a bit of a new-look side.

A lot of attacking talent has emerged and/or kicked on over the last couple of years, so there is a real fresh feel going forward, but there are question marks at the back and tough-tackling midfielder Lena Oberdorf is missing as a screen in front of the defence. Germany should be fine at one end of the pitch but there are question marks at the other.

⭐️ Star player

📸 Stuart Franklin - 2025 Getty Images

It should be impossible to replace a player as talented, as talismanic, as determined as legendary striker Alexandra Popp. Not for Lea Schüller. A proper penalty box striker, the 27-year-old boasts an incredible record at international level, with 52 goals in 75 appearances for the national team.

Supported by the supreme creative talents of the likes of Klara Bühl, Jule Brand and Laura Freigang, there should be plenty of service and the goalscoring capabilities of Freigang and Selina Cerci should also supplement Schüller well, taking some of the burden off of her and attracting the attention of opposition defenders.

👀 One to watch

📸 RONNY HARTMANN - AFP or licensors

Likely number 10 Laura Freigang hasn't really been a Germany regular, at least not from the start of games, until recently, and still plays for Eintracht Frankfurt rather than one of the more typical powerhouses in Bayern Munich or Wolfsburg. As a result, she hasn't had the international attention she has perhaps deserved over the last few years.

Freigang, 27, is no out-and-out striker but has racked up 88 Frauen-Bundesliga goals in her career already and helped Frankfurt to four consecutive third-place finishes in the league. Able to time late runs into the box to perfection, Freigang is already a household name and face in Germany but this could be a breakout tournament on a bigger stage for the forward.

Likely 1️⃣1️⃣

(4-2-3-1): Berger; Gwinn, Minge, Knaak, Linder; Nüsken, Senß; Brand, Freigang, Bühl; Schüller

Can they win it? 🏆

Crucial they get out of the group at least after 2023 and then anything can happen. Germany won't be favoured if and when they come up against the likes of France, England and Spain. But being knocked out by any of the others sides at the tournament would probably go down as a bit of a disappointment.

📸 FOCKE STRANGMANN - AFP or licensors