The German national team secured top spot in group A after sharing the spoils with Switzerland in their final EURO 2024 qualifier on Sunday night. After winning a valuable point in the 1-1 draw courtesy of a last-minute header from Niclas Füllkrug (90’+2), the undefeated side under Julian Nagelsmann are now set to take on the runners-up of Group C, either England, Denmark, Serbia or Slovenia, on Saturday (21:00 CEST) in Dortmund.
Julian Nagelsmann decided to keep his starting XI unchanged from the previous group stage clashes against Scotland and Hungary, with Manuel Neuer between the sticks and Joshua Kimmich, Jonathan Tah, Antonio Rüdiger and Maximilian Mittelstädt forming the back line. Toni Kroos and Robert Andrich built up the central midfield, with Jamal Musiala, captain İlkay Gündoğan and Florian Wirtz sat in front of the pair, and Kai Havertz spearheading the attack.
Germany came out the traps firing with Jamal Musiala providing the first chance of the game. The youngster outsmarted the Switzerland defender and powered forward, delivering the ball into the path of Gündoğan in the middle, but the captain was stopped in his tracks. Murat Yakin’s side put Germany through their paces and posed threats to goal from the offset, but the host nation held firm and ensured that the ball went through no further than the midfield.
Andrich’s goal chalked off, Ndoye steps up to the plate
Nagelsmann’s side were the first to celebrate after Andrich found space outside the box and tried his luck from range, firing home Germany’s opener after 17 minutes, but referee Daniele Orsato spoiled the party by chalking off the goal due to a foul from Musiala in the build-up.
Although Germany were able to maintain control of the game after an early boost of confidence, Switzerland refused to back down and found their first goal courtesy of Ndoye. Remo Freuler delivered a cross from inside the box into the path of the forward, who remained onside by a hair's breadth and struck a volley into the roof of the net (28’). Ndoye was almost able to double Switzerland’s advantage and up his goal tally to two in the following minutes, yet his effort flew narrowly wide of the far post.
The host nation took a while to respond to the deficit and struggled to make anything of their chances. Rüdiger’s header from a Kroos cross went wide of the target (41’), followed by missed efforts from both Musiala and Andrich, leaving Germany with some catching up to do after the break.
Füllkrug comes to the rescue
Switzerland hit the ground running once again in the second half, with Germany continuing to look for ways through and find their equaliser. Nagelsmann’s men put their foot on the gas and began to pose a threat to the opposition goal, with Gündoğan coming close to levelling the scoring after pouncing on a deflected effort from Musiala. Kroos then joined in on the action, but his first-time strike from outside the box went wide of the target (54’).
Nagelsmann decided to make some changes shortly after, bringing David Raum and Nico Schlotterbeck off the bench for midfielders Mittelstädt and Tah (61’). This provided Germany with a new lease of life, which saw Raum power a long-range shot just shy of the crossbar (63’) and headers from Gündoğan and Havertz’s also missing the target a minute later. Maximilian Beier then came into action for Andrich, after which Kimmich almost levelled the scoring, but his effort was blocked at the last second (71’).
The German national team secured top spot in group A after sharing the spoils with Switzerland in their final EURO 2024 qualifier on Sunday night. After winning a valuable point in the 1-1 draw courtesy of a last-minute header from Niclas Füllkrug (90’+2), the undefeated side under Julian Nagelsmann are now set to take on the runners-up of Group C, either England, Denmark, Serbia or Slovenia, on Saturday (21:00 CEST) in Dortmund.
Julian Nagelsmann decided to keep his starting XI unchanged from the previous group stage clashes against Scotland and Hungary, with Manuel Neuer between the sticks and Joshua Kimmich, Jonathan Tah, Antonio Rüdiger and Maximilian Mittelstädt forming the back line. Toni Kroos and Robert Andrich built up the central midfield, with Jamal Musiala, captain İlkay Gündoğan and Florian Wirtz sat in front of the pair, and Kai Havertz spearheading the attack.
Germany came out the traps firing with Jamal Musiala providing the first chance of the game. The youngster outsmarted the Switzerland defender and powered forward, delivering the ball into the path of Gündoğan in the middle, but the captain was stopped in his tracks. Murat Yakin’s side put Germany through their paces and posed threats to goal from the offset, but the host nation held firm and ensured that the ball went through no further than the midfield.
Andrich’s goal chalked off, Ndoye steps up to the plate
Nagelsmann’s side were the first to celebrate after Andrich found space outside the box and tried his luck from range, firing home Germany’s opener after 17 minutes, but referee Daniele Orsato spoiled the party by chalking off the goal due to a foul from Musiala in the build-up.
Although Germany were able to maintain control of the game after an early boost of confidence, Switzerland refused to back down and found their first goal courtesy of Ndoye. Remo Freuler delivered a cross from inside the box into the path of the forward, who remained onside by a hair's breadth and struck a volley into the roof of the net (28’). Ndoye was almost able to double Switzerland’s advantage and up his goal tally to two in the following minutes, yet his effort flew narrowly wide of the far post.
The host nation took a while to respond to the deficit and struggled to make anything of their chances. Rüdiger’s header from a Kroos cross went wide of the target (41’), followed by missed efforts from both Musiala and Andrich, leaving Germany with some catching up to do after the break.
Füllkrug comes to the rescue
Switzerland hit the ground running once again in the second half, with Germany continuing to look for ways through and find their equaliser. Nagelsmann’s men put their foot on the gas and began to pose a threat to the opposition goal, with Gündoğan coming close to levelling the scoring after pouncing on a deflected effort from Musiala. Kroos then joined in on the action, but his first-time strike from outside the box went wide of the target (54’).
Nagelsmann decided to make some changes shortly after, bringing David Raum and Nico Schlotterbeck off the bench for midfielders Mittelstädt and Tah (61’). This provided Germany with a new lease of life, which saw Raum power a long-range shot just shy of the crossbar (63’) and headers from Gündoğan and Havertz’s also missing the target a minute later. Maximilian Beier then came into action for Andrich, after which Kimmich almost levelled the scoring, but his effort was blocked at the last second (71’).
Nagelsmann made his final two changes, bringing Leroy Sané and Niclas Füllkrug onto the field to replace Wirtz and Musiala (76’). Germany continued to pose a threat to the Swiss goal in the closing stages, with Havertz’s header being denied by the crossbar (85’) and Granit Xhaka responding with a rocket from range up the other end (88’). Thankfully, the host nation were able to breathe a sigh of relief after Füllkrug rose highest in the box and nodded home the much-needed equaliser in the dying seconds, seeing Germany come away with a point and secure their unbeaten streak in the group stage of EURO 2024.
