Twenty minutes in, Germany didn’t stand a chance against France in their 2025 European Championship quarter-final. Everything had gone wrong.
Defender Kathrin Hendrich had been dismissed for a foolish hair-pull, and the subsequent penalty had been converted. The Germans were a goal down. They were a player down. Their game plan for the tie against France had been based around manager Christian Wuck’s surprise switch to a 4-3-3 system, which eschewed a proper No 10 and moved centre-back Janina Minge into midfield. That plan was ripped up and adjusted to a 4-4-1, with Minge switched back to defence.
When their third-choice right-back, Sarai Linder, limped off on 20 minutes, they were down to their fourth choice, Sophia Kleinherne, with regular starter Giulia Gwinn missing the tournament injured and backup Carlotta Wamser suspended following a red card in their final group-stage match. A typical centre-back, Kleinherne was now up against Delphine Cascarino, the most electric winger in this competition.
“Our entire plan had to be remodelled,” Wuck said after their eventual victory on penalties following a 1-1 draw.
Kathrin Hendrich is consoled by team-mates after being shown a red card against France (Charlotte Wilson/Getty Images)
Yet Germany thrived.
In the three group games, they’d looked too open and unable to screen their back four properly. The full-backs had flown forward recklessly, the defence exposed by quick switches of play. But on Saturday, they had no other option than to knuckle down, remain compact, sit deep and play on the break. In serious adversity, they were magnificent.
“Germany deserved the qualification,” conceded France manager Laurent Bonadei.
It felt like Germany had the right type of player in every position.
In midfield, Sjoeke Nusken and Elisa Senss played all-action, combative roles. Nusken still pushed on into attack, and Senss scrapped in front of the back four. Down the right, Jule Brand showed energy and tenacity and attempted to play positive forward passes. Down their left, Klara Buhl offered 20-year-old Franziska Kett, a converted attacker and playing her first game of the tournament at left-back, tremendous protection. Kett also deserves credit for a fearsome, battling performance in her own right. The centre-backs were excellent in the air.
Most impressive was Giovanna Hoffmann, a surprise starter instead of regular centre-forward Lea Schuller. She brilliantly played the unenviable role of lone striker in a side down to 10 players. She ran, fought in the air, flicked the ball on and held it up. More than anything, she constantly won free kicks from the French defenders, enabling her side to relieve the pressure, have a breather and get themselves up the pitch.
Germany’s Giovanna Hoffmann had a standout performance (Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)
Indeed, France’s indiscipline was such that Germany had the best chance to win in normal time from the penalty spot. Brand was going nowhere, other than running in a manner that might vaguely buy a trip from Selma Bacha. The French left-back didn’t read the situation. Had Nusken hammered her shot into the net rather than straight at Pauline Peyraud-Magnin, few would have said it was undeserved.
The most surprising thing about Germany’s display was their lack of substitutions.
Aside from that injury-enforced first-half switch at right-back, Wuck kept faith with the players who had started the game until the eighth minute of extra time, despite France repeatedly injecting extra speed from the bench.
“The team was performing very well,” Wuck said, when asked about the lack of changes. “Every player was giving an immense performance, and there’s absolutely no reason (to make substitutions) if the players don’t ask to be substituted. Therefore, in extra time, if we needed to react to things, then we could. But in terms of technical or tactical reasons, there was no need for substitutions.”
For their part, France produced a pitiful display, which deserved nothing less than elimination.
France players look dejected after their quarter-final loss (Harry Langer /DeFodi via Getty Images)
They played over 100 minutes of football with an extra player, only scored from that early penalty and created little afterwards. This is a limited side overly reliant on speed in wide positions. When denied space to break into, the French offered no combination play or individual invention in central positions. They were hugely flattered by their 5-2 win here in Basel last Sunday against the Netherlands, who deservedly led 2-1 at half-time, and were forced to keep pushing forward because they needed to win by a three-goal margin. That meant France could counter-attack. In that respect, they are an exceptional side. In other ways, they are lacking.
“The German team was heroic,” Bonadei said after the game. “They really hurt us in the duels. … They defended very well in their half; they didn’t leave any space. It was really hard to find solutions between the lines. We tried to use the wings, but our passing was not good enough.”
The Euro 2025 quarter-finals have had late drama, with Italy squeezing past Norway, a comeback out of nowhere from England, capped by a farcical penalty shootout win over Sweden. They’ve had a commendable display from hosts Switzerland, bowing out of the tournament with dignity after eventually succumbing to Spain, and now we can add one of the most impressive displays you will see from a side reduced to 10 players — never mind the fact that the red card came after only 13 minutes and that there was extra time, too.
Germany will go into their semi-final against Spain on Wednesday in Zurich as the underdogs.
They have a day’s less rest than their opponents, they now have Hendrich and Nusken suspended, they will be suffering from enormous fatigue after last night, and they’re simply not as good as Spain, the reigning world champions. But this win will have given them tremendous belief, and probably a neat template for how to play against the possession-focused Spaniards.
Who knows how effective they could be, playing with this mentality and an 11th player.
(Top photo: Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)
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