Germany: Euro 2025 Preview

Germany will head to Switzerland, looking to put the pain of the 2023 World Cup behind them, as well as the heartbreak of losing in extra-time against England in the previous Euros in 2022.

How far can Germany go, and can they put the horrors of the last four years behind them and make a charge towards European glory?

The past few years have certainly been rough for Germany having been knocked out of the World Cup in the group stages, losing the last Euro final to England and finishing third at the Olympics.

They have had some major changes seeing two changes of head coach as well as a large number of players retiring from international duty. In other words, this is not the team that won eight out of nine European Championships between 1989 and 2013.

However, in the final run up to the tournament, the form has been in Germany's favour with five wins and a draw. They were in fine goalscoring form for their Nations League matches, beating the Netherlands 4-0 and putting six goals past Austria, providing Christian Wück and his team much needed confidence ahead of the start of the Euro 2025 campaign.

Players To Watch

Giulia Gwinn, the captain of the side, is certainly one of Germany's star players with 60 appearances for her national team at only 25 years of age she is a key figure to help lead players both on and off the pitch, providing much needed stability.

Linda Dallmann is not new on the scene at all but the four time Bundesliga winner is one of the most experienced players within the side and often has the ability to completely change a game with good spatial awareness and being calm in possession which will certainly cause opposing teams a headache.

Klara Bühl was part of the team of the tournament last time out at Euro 2022 and was part of the Team of the Tournament despite missing out on the semi-finals and final due to a positive covid test. Since then, her reputation has increased in size being at the heart of Bayern Munich's recent dominance and picking up a bronze Olympic medal along the way.

Lea Schüller adds to Germany's attacking threat with a goal record of 52 in 75 caps for her country. She will come to the tournament with a lot of expectation on her shoulders for her to perform well but with three goals in Germany's last two matches and a hattrick in the German Cup Final that sealed the double for Bayern. Schüller will be heading to Switzerland full of confidence.

How Strong are Germany's group opponents?

Germany's first match takes place against Poland and should be their easiest and most straight forward game if they play to their full potential.

The final group game against Sweden looks to be their toughest, with the Swedes unbeaten since a loss against France in July 2024 and having knocked the USA out on their run to the World Cup semi finals, they offer hugely experienced players who wont back down from a challenge, being the most likely alongside Germany to top the group.

Denmark's lack of star players struggles in previous tournaments may also provide Germany with another positive result, but the Danes are no free ride. They were in fact the last side to beat Germany in a competitive game, winning 2-0 in Viborg in their Nations League opener.

That being said, Germany did comfortably win the return game 3-0.

What Is The Realistic Aim In Switzerland?

After the early exit from the 2023 World Cup the targets for Germany will certainly have been lowered but that doesn't mean that their expectations aren't still high. While the dream for any country would be to win the competition, for Germany that won't have been the case.

Germany will see reaching the quarter finals as the bare minimum requirement for them having a form of successful Euro 2025 campaign, However if this were to happen they would still have the daunting task of France or previous winners England or the Netherlands.

Despite the lowered expectations, Germany still faces pressure to justify themselves being among Europe's elite, with a quarter-final result being the minimum for success for German football as it will be a chance for them to rediscover their form in a major tournament and surely challenge the continents best when it matters most.