Germany national under-21 football team

Germany Under-21
Association	Deutscher Fußball-Bund
Head coach	Stefan Kuntz
Captain	Johannes Eggestein
Most caps	Fabian Ernst (31)
Top scorer	Pierre Littbarski (18)
First colours	Second colours
First international
	U-23:; West Germany 3–3 Yugoslavia ; (Frankfurt, Germany; 25 June 1955); U-21:; Poland 1–0 West Germany ; (Toruń, Poland; 10 October 1979)
Biggest win
	U-23:; West Germany 3–0 Turkey ; (Augsburg, Germany; 24 April 1971); U-21:; San Marino 0–11 Germany ; Serravalle, San Marino; 17 November 2009)
Biggest defeat
	U-23:; Soviet Union 3–1 West Germany ; (Yerevan, USSR; 29 April 1972); U-21:; Portugal 5–0 Germany ; (Olomouc, Czech Republic; 27 June 2015)
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	11 (first in 1982)
Best result	Winners (2009, 2017)

The Germany national under-21 football team represents the under-21s of Germany in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship and is controlled by the German Football Association (DFB), the governing body of football in Germany.

Before the reunification of Germany, East Germany and West Germany played as separate entities — the two teams played separately until summer 1990. Following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976, international under-21 football in Europe began. A West German team, however, did not compete in the U-21 European Championship until the qualifying round (beginning in 1980) of the 1982 competition.

West Germany competed in the first two under-23 competitions, which finished in 1972 and 1974. The first under-21 competition finals were in 1978, and since the under-21 competition rules state that players must be 21 or under at the start of a two-year competition, technically it is an under-23 competition.

The current Germany team can be legitimately considered as the current incarnation of the West German team, since the West Germany flag, uniform, and football association all became those of the unified Germany. In effect, the West German team absorbed the East German team to become 'the Germany national under-21 football team'.

For these reasons, the record of West Germany for the U-23 and U-21 competitions is shown below.

Competition records

For the East Germany team record, look here.

Competing as West Germany

UEFA U-23 Championship record

Year	Progress
1972	Quarterfinals
1974	Did not qualify
1976	Did not enter

UEFA U-21 Championship record

Year	Progress
1978	Did not enter
1980	Did not enter
1982	Final
1984	Did not qualify
1986	Did not qualify
1988	Did not qualify
1990	Quarterfinals

Competing as Germany

UEFA U-21 Championship record

Year	Progress
1992	Quarterfinals
1994	Did not qualify
1996	Quarterfinals
1998	Quarterfinals
2000	Did not qualify
2002	Did not qualify
2004	Group Stage
2006	Group Stage
2007	Did not qualify
2009	Champions
2011	Did not qualify
2013	Group Stage
2015	Semifinals
2017	Champions
/ 2019	Runners-up

Individual Awards

Golden Player: Rudi Völler (1982)
Silver Boot: Kevin Volland (2015)

EURO Under-21 dream team

On 17 June 2015, UEFA revealed an all-time best XI from the previous Under-21 final tournaments.^[1]

Included players from Germany:

Goal: Manuel Neuer
Defence: Mats Hummels
Midfield: Mesut Özil

Schedule and results

5 September 2019 Friendly	Germany	2–0	Greece	Zwickau
18:15	Nmecha 25' Dorsch 58'	Report		Stadium: Stadion Zwickau Attendance: 4,512

10 September 2019 2021 UEFA Q	Wales	1–5	Germany	Wrexham
20:00	Harris 48' (pen.)	Report	Hack 19', 24', 29' Eggestein 41' Fein 50'	Stadium: Racecourse Ground Attendance: 841 Referee: Tomasz Musiał (Poland)

10 October 2019 Friendly	Spain	1–1	Germany	Córdoba
19:45	García 10'	Report	Schlotterbeck 32'	Stadium: Estadio Nuevo Arcángel Attendance: 12,244 Referee: Srđan Jovanović (Serbia)

15 October 2019 2021 UEFA Q	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0–2	Germany	Zenica
18:00		Report	Kilian 29' Nmecha 79'	Stadium: Bilino Polje Stadium Attendance: 900 Referee: Jens Maae (Denmark)

17 November 2019 2021 UEFA Q	Germany	2–3	Belgium	Freiburg
16:00	Schlotterbeck 38' Vanheusden 81' (o.g.)	Report	Vanheusden 26' Openda 43', 70'	Stadium: Schwarzwald-Stadion Attendance: 16,504 Referee: Fábio José Costa Veríssimo (Portugal)

26 March 2020 Friendly	Germany	Cancelled	Austria	Braunschweig
18:15		Report		Stadium: Eintracht-Stadion
Note: The match was cancelled on 17 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.^[2]

3 September 2020 2021 UEFA Q	Germany	v	Moldova	Wiesbaden
		Report		Stadium: Brita-Arena

8 September 2020 2021 UEFA Q	Belgium	v	Germany	Heverlee
16:00		Report		Stadium: Den Dreef

9 October 2020 2021 UEFA Q	Moldova	v	Germany
		Report

13 October 2020 2021 UEFA Q	Germany	v	Bosnia and Herzegovina
		Report

17 November 2020 2021 UEFA Q	Germany	v	Wales	Magdeburg
18:15		Report		Stadium: MDCC-Arena
Note: The match was originally scheduled to take place on 17 March 2020, but was postponed due to the due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.^[2]

Players

Current squad

Players born in or after 1998 are eligible for the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

The following players were called up for the qualifier against Belgium on 17 November 2019.^[3]

Note: Names in italics denote players that have been called up to the senior team.

Caps and goals correct as of 17 November 2019.^[4]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Markus Schubert	(1998-06-12) 12 June 1998 (age 26)	6	0	Schalke 04
2	2DF	Maxime Awoudja	(1998-02-02) 2 February 1998 (age 26)	2	0	VfB Stuttgart
3	2DF	Tim Handwerker	(1998-05-19) 19 May 1998 (age 26)	4	0	1. FC Nürnberg
4	2DF	Nico Schlotterbeck	(1999-12-01) 1 December 1999 (age 25)	5	2	SC Freiburg
5	2DF	Amos Pieper	(1998-01-17) 17 January 1998 (age 26)	0	0	Arminia Bielefeld
6	3MF	Orestis Kiomourtzoglou	(1998-05-07) 7 May 1998 (age 26)	2	0	FC Kaiserslautern
7	3MF	Dženis Burnić	(1998-05-22) 22 May 1998 (age 26)	4	0	Dynamo Dresden
8	3MF	Dennis Geiger	(1998-06-10) 10 June 1998 (age 26)	2	0	1899 Hoffenheim
9	4FW	Janni Serra	(1998-03-13) 13 March 1998 (age 26)	16	2	Holstein Kiel
10	4FW	Lukas Nmecha	(1998-12-14) 14 December 1998 (age 26)	8	2	VfL Wolfsburg
11	4FW	Mërgim Berisha	(1998-05-11) 11 May 1998 (age 26)	3	0	SCR Altach
12	1GK	Finn Dahmen	(1998-03-27) 27 March 1998 (age 26)	0	0	Mainz 05
13	3MF	Salih Özcan	(1998-01-11) 11 January 1998 (age 26)	5	0	Holstein Kiel
14	4FW	Ragnar Ache	(1998-07-28) 28 July 1998 (age 26)	1	0	Sparta Rotterdam
15	2DF	Luca Kilian	(1999-09-01) 1 September 1999 (age 25)	5	1	SC Paderborn
16	2DF	Felix Agu	(1999-09-27) 27 September 1999 (age 25)	2	0	VfL Osnabrück
17	3MF	Robin Hack	(1998-08-27) 27 August 1998 (age 26)	4	3	1. FC Nürnberg
18	3MF	Niklas Dorsch	(1998-01-15) 15 January 1998 (age 26)	4	1	1. FC Heidenheim
19	3MF	Adrian Fein	(1999-03-18) 18 March 1999 (age 25)	5	1	Hamburger SV
20	2DF	Vitaly Janelt	(1998-05-10) 10 May 1998 (age 26)	5	0	VfL Bochum
21	2DF	Bote Baku	(1998-04-08) 8 April 1998 (age 26)	4	0	Mainz 05
22	4FW	Johannes Eggestein (C)	(1998-05-08) 8 May 1998 (age 26)	11	2	Werder Bremen
23	1GK	Lennart Grill	(1998-06-12) 12 June 1998 (age 26)	2	0	Heracles Almelo

Recent call ups

The following players have also been called up to the Germany under-21 squad and remain eligible:

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Eike Bansen	(1998-02-21) 21 February 1998 (age 26)	0	0	Zulte-Waregem	Bosnia and Herzegovina 15 October 2019

DF	Julian Chabot	(1998-02-12) 12 February 1998 (age 26)	4	0	Sampdoria	Belgium 17 November 2019
DF	Josha Vagnoman	(2000-11-12) 12 November 2000 (age 24)	1	0	Hamburger SV	Bosnia and Herzegovina 15 October 2019
DF	Louis Beyer	(2000-05-19) 19 May 2000 (age 24)	1	0	Borussia Mönchengladbach	Wales 10 September 2019

MF	Arne Maier	(1999-01-08) 8 January 1999 (age 25)	8	1	Hertha BSC	2019 U-21 Euro

FW	Makana Baku	(1998-04-08) 8 April 1998 (age 26)	3	0	Holstein Kiel	Bosnia and Herzegovina 15 October 2019
FW	Mats Köhlert	(1999-05-02) 2 May 1999 (age 25)	2	0	Willem II	Bosnia and Herzegovina 15 October 2019

Past squads

Player records

Most caps

No. of caps	Player	U-21 career
31	Fabian Ernst	1998–2001
30	Levin Öztunalı	2015–2019
27	Andreas Beck	2007–2009
26	Mike Hanke	2003–2005
25	Dennis Aogo	2007–2009
24	Christian Tiffert	2002–2004
	Daniel Schwaab	2007–2010
	Lewis Holtby	2009–2013
	Moritz Leitner	2011–2015
	Nadiem Amiri	2016–2019

Most goals

No. of goals	No. of caps	Player	U-21 career
18	21	Pierre Littbarski	1979–1982
17	20	Heiko Herrlich	1990–1993
15	23	Benjamin Auer	2002–2004
14	26	Mike Hanke	2003–2005
14	24	Lewis Holtby	2009–2013
13	21	Rouwen Hennings	2007–2009
11	22	Kevin Volland	2012–2015
10	19	Rudi Völler	1979–1982
	22	Christian Nerlinger	1992–1996
	15	Luca Waldschmidt	2017–2019

Former coaches

Hannes Löhr (1990–2002)
Jürgen Kohler (2002–2003)
Uli Stielike (2003–2004)
Dieter Eilts (2004–2008)
Horst Hrubesch (2008–2009)
Rainer Adrion (2009–2013)
Horst Hrubesch (2013–2016)
Stefan Kuntz (2016–)

References

^ "Our all-time Under-21 EURO dream team". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Offiziell bestätigt: Länderspiele im März und April abgesagt". dfb.de. 17 March 2020.
^ "Belgien-Spiel: Kuntz beruft Neuling Ache". dfb.de. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
^ "U 21-Nationalteam Männer Team". dfb.de. Retrieved 4 March 2014.

External links

Site of the Under-21 national team at the German Football Association homepage

[1] "Our all-time Under-21 EURO dream team". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2016.

[Cancelled-2] "Offiziell bestätigt: Länderspiele im März und April abgesagt". dfb.de. 17 March 2020.

[3] "Belgien-Spiel: Kuntz beruft Neuling Ache". dfb.de. Retrieved 6 November 2019.

[4] "U 21-Nationalteam Männer Team". dfb.de. Retrieved 4 March 2014.

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