Germany national under-21 football team

Germany Under-21
Association	Deutscher Fußball-Bund
Head coach	Antonio Di Salvo
Captain	Eric Martel
Most caps	Fabian Ernst (31)
Top scorer	Pierre Littbarski (18)
First colours	Second colours
First international
	U-23:; West Germany 3–3 Yugoslavia ; (Frankfurt, West 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, West 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, Soviet Union; 29 April 1972); U-21:; Portugal 5–0 Germany ; (Olomouc, Czech Republic; 27 June 2015)
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	14 (first in 1982)
Best result	Winners (2009, 2017, 2021)

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.

Competitive record

For the East Germany team record, look here.

1972–1990 as West Germany
1994–present as Germany

Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place

UEFA U-23 Championship record

UEFA European Under-23 Championship finals record									Qualifications record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GF	GA	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA
1972	Quarterfinals	8th	2	0	1	1	1	3	6	5	1	0	11	1	1972
1974	did not qualify								4	2	1	1	7	3	1974
1976	did not enter								did not enter						1976
Total	Quarterfinals	1/3	2	0	1	1	1	3	10	7	2	1	18	4	Total

UEFA U-21 Championship record

UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals record									Qualifications record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GF	GA	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA
1978	did not enter								did not enter						1978
1980	did not enter								did not enter						1980
1982	Runners-up	2nd	6	4	0	2	15	9	6	5	0	1	15	5	1982
1984	did not qualify								6	3	3	0	13	4	1984
1986									6	3	1	2	9	6	1986
1988									6	3	0	3	12	9	1988
1990	Quarterfinals	6th	2	0	1	1	2	3	6	4	2	0	10	2	1990
1992	Quarterfinals	6th	2	0	1	1	4	5	4	4	0	0	12	1	1992
1994	did not qualify								8	5	0	3	20	8	1994
1996	Quarterfinals	7th	2	0	1	1	1	4	8	6	1	1	22	5	1996
1998	Quarterfinals	5th	3	2	0	1	3	2	8	6	2	0	20	3	1998
2000	did not qualify								8	4	1	3	9	7	2000
2002	did not qualify								8	5	1	2	18	7	2002
2004	Group stage	6th	3	1	0	2	4	5	8	5	2	1	13	6	2004
2006	Group stage	7th	3	1	0	2	1	4	12	9	3	0	27	5	2006
2007	did not qualify								4	2	0	2	8	6	2007
2009	Champions	1st	5	3	2	0	8	1	10	6	3	1	26	4	2009
2011	did not qualify								8	3	3	2	26	10	2011
2013	Group stage	6th	3	1	0	2	4	5	12	10	2	0	43	11	2013
2015	Semifinals	3rd	4	1	2	1	5	7	10	8	2	0	30	5	2015
2017	Champions	1st	5	3	1	1	8	3	10	10	0	0	35	8	2017
2019	Runners-up	2nd	5	3	1	1	15	7	10	8	1	1	33	7	2019
2021	Champions	1st	6	3	3	0	9	4	8	6	0	2	22	10	2021
2023	Group stage	15th	3	0	1	2	2	5	10	9	0	1	32	9	2023
2025	Qualified								TBD						2025
Total	3 titles	15/25	52	22	13*	17	81	64	176	124	27	25	465	138	Total

Individual awards

Golden Player: Rudi Völler (1982)
Golden Boot: Luca Waldschmidt (2019), Lukas Nmecha (2021)
Silver Boot: Kevin Volland (2015)
Bronze Boot: Marco Richter (2019)

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

UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship

2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Germany	10	8	2	0	35	10	+25	26	Final tournament	—	3–1	2–1	0–0	4–1	2–0
2	Poland	10	7	1	2	24	10	+14	22	Final tournament	3–3	—	0–1	3–0	5–0	2–1
3	Bulgaria	10	4	3	3	17	12	+5	15		2–3	1–3	—	1–1	6–0	1–0
4	Kosovo	10	3	3	4	10	17	−7	12		0–3	0–4	2–2	—	2–0	3–1
5	Estonia	10	2	1	7	7	31	−24	7		1–10	0–1	1–1	3–1	—	1–0
6	Israel	10	1	0	9	5	18	−13	3		1–5	1–2	0–1	0–1	1–0	—

Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Results and fixtures

Win Draw Loss

17 November 2023 2025 UEFA EC Q	Germany	4–1	Estonia	Paderborn
18:00	Beier 39' Moukoko 53' Reitz 88', 90+4'	Report	Kuraksin 64'	Stadium: Home Deluxe Arena Attendance: 5,493 Referee: Danijar Sachi (Kazakhstan)

21 November 2023 2025 UEFA EC Q	Germany	3–1	Poland	Essen
18:00	Martel 56' Woltemade 79' Röhl 82'	Report	Mosór 24'	Stadium: Stadion an der Hafenstraße Attendance: 8,559 Referee: Kyriakos Athanasiou (Cyprus)

22 March 2024 2025 UEFA EC Q	Germany	0–0	Kosovo	Chemnitz
18:00		Report		Stadium: Stadion an der Gellertstraße Attendance: 6,899 Referee: Daniele Chiffi (Italy)

26 March 2024 2025 UEFA EC Q	Germany	2–0	Israel	Halle
18:00	Gruda 14' Röhl 56'	Report		Stadium: Leuna Chemie Stadion Attendance: 4,766 Referee: John Brooks (England)

4 September 2024 2025 UEFA EC Q	Israel	1–5	Germany	Győr, Hungary
	Yehoshua 64'	Report	Tresoldi 5', 35' Adeyemi 15', 61' Knauff 90+4'	Stadium: Ménfői úti Stadion Referee: Henrik Nalbandyan (Armenia)
Note: The match, originally scheduled for 17 October 2023, was postponed due to the Israel–Hamas war.^[2]

10 September 2024 2025 UEFA EC Q	Estonia	1–10	Germany	Tallinn
18:00	Sapovalov 69'	Report	Woltemade 23', 47' Tresoldi 31' Adeyemi 35', 44', 61' Martel 39' Rosenfelder 59' Lemperle 87' Knauff 90'	Stadium: Kadriorg Stadium Referee: Antoine Chiaramonti (Andorra)

11 October 2024 2025 UEFA EC Q	Germany	2–1	Bulgaria	Regensburg
18:00	Beier 9' Woltemade 66' (pen.)	Report	N. Iliev 37'	Stadium: Jahnstadion Attendance: 8,586 Referee: Ben Mcmaster (Northern Ireland)

15 October 2024 2025 UEFA EC Q	Poland	3–3	Germany	Łódź
17:00	Marczuk 17' Kałuziński 49' Fornalczyk 59'	Report	Tresoldi 3' Wanner 21' Arrey-Mbi 30'	Stadium: Władysław Król Stadium Attendance: 11,496 Referee: Dario Bel (Croatia)

Players

Current squad

Players born in or after 2002 are eligible for the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

The following players were called up for the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches against Bulgaria and Poland on 11 and 15 October 2024.^[3]

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

Caps and goals correct as of 11 October 2024.^[4]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Noah Atubolu	(2002-05-25) 25 May 2002 (age 22)	15	0	SC Freiburg
12	1GK	Jonas Urbig	(2003-08-08) 8 August 2003 (age 21)	5	0	1. FC Köln
23	1GK	Tjark Ernst	(2003-03-15) 15 March 2003 (age 21)	0	0	Hertha BSC

2	2DF	Leandro Morgalla	(2004-09-13) 13 September 2004 (age 20)	4	0	Red Bull Salzburg
3	2DF	Tom Rothe	(2004-10-29) 29 October 2004 (age 19)	1	0	Union Berlin
4	2DF	Bright Arrey-Mbi	(2003-03-26) 26 March 2003 (age 21)	8	0	Braga
5	2DF	Max Rosenfelder	(2003-02-10) 10 February 2003 (age 21)	3	1	SC Freiburg
11	2DF	Jan Thielmann	(2002-05-26) 26 May 2002 (age 22)	14	1	1. FC Köln
14	2DF	Hendry Blank	(2004-08-21) 21 August 2004 (age 20)	0	0	Red Bull Salzburg
15	2DF	Tim Oermann	(2003-10-06) 6 October 2003 (age 21)	1	0	VfL Bochum
16	2DF	Luca Netz	(2003-05-15) 15 May 2003 (age 21)	17	0	Borussia Mönchengladbach

6	3MF	Eric Martel (captain)	(2002-04-29) 29 April 2002 (age 22)	19	2	1. FC Köln
7	3MF	Ansgar Knauff	(2002-01-10) 10 January 2002 (age 22)	19	3	Eintracht Frankfurt
8	3MF	Umut Tohumcu	(2004-08-11) 11 August 2004 (age 20)	1	0	TSG Hoffenheim
13	3MF	Frans Krätzig	(2003-01-14) 14 January 2003 (age 21)	1	0	VfB Stuttgart
17	3MF	Brajan Gruda	(2004-05-31) 31 May 2004 (age 20)	7	1	Brighton & Hove Albion
18	3MF	Rocco Reitz	(2002-05-29) 29 May 2002 (age 22)	7	2	Borussia Mönchengladbach
19	3MF	Tim Lemperle	(2002-02-05) 5 February 2002 (age 22)	9	2	1. FC Köln
20	3MF	Paul Wanner	(2005-12-23) 23 December 2005 (age 18)	1	0	1. FC Heidenheim
22	3MF	Paul Nebel	(2002-10-10) 10 October 2002 (age 22)	5	0	Mainz 05

9	4FW	Nicolò Tresoldi	(2004-08-20) 20 August 2004 (age 20)	6	3	Hannover 96
10	4FW	Nick Woltemade	(2002-02-14) 14 February 2002 (age 22)	9	4	VfB Stuttgart
21	4FW	Maximilian Beier	(2002-10-17) 17 October 2002 (age 21)	6	3	Borussia Dortmund

Recent call-ups

The following players have previously been called up to the Germany under-21 squad in the last 12 months and remain eligible for selection.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Felix Gebhardt	(2002-03-01) 1 March 2002 (age 22)	0	0	Jahn Regensburg	v. Estonia, 10 September 2024

DF	Nathaniel Brown	(2003-06-16) 16 June 2003 (age 21)	5	0	Eintracht Frankfurt	v. Estonia, 10 September 2024
DF	Marcel Beifus	(2002-10-27) 27 October 2002 (age 21)	1	0	Karlsruher SC	v. Estonia, 10 September 2024
DF	Kenneth Schmidt	(2002-06-03) 3 June 2002 (age 22)	4	0	SC Freiburg	v. Israel, 4 September 2024
DF	Linus Gechter	(2004-02-27) 27 February 2004 (age 20)	2	0	Hertha BSC	v. Israel, 4 September 2024
DF	Julian Eitschberger	(2004-03-05) 5 March 2004 (age 20)	1	0	Hallescher FC	v. Israel, 26 March 2024
DF	Jamil Siebert	(2002-04-02) 2 April 2002 (age 22)	4	0	Fortuna Düsseldorf	v. Israel, 26 March 2024
DF	Joshua Quarshie	(2004-07-26) 26 July 2004 (age 20)	0	0	Fortuna Düsseldorf	v. Israel, 26 March 2024
DF	Colin Kleine-Bekel	(2003-01-24) 24 January 2003 (age 21)	5	1	Holstein Kiel	v. Israel, 26 March 2024
DF	Márton Dárdai	(2002-02-12) 12 February 2002 (age 22)	8	0	Hertha BSC	v. Poland, 21 November 2023

MF	Armindo Sieb	(2003-02-17) 17 February 2003 (age 21)	2	0	Mainz 05	v. Estonia, 10 September 2024
MF	Merlin Röhl	(2002-07-05) 5 July 2002 (age 22)	9	2	SC Freiburg	v. Estonia, 10 September 2024
MF	Jens Castrop	(2003-07-29) 29 July 2003 (age 21)	1	0	1. FC Nürnberg	v. Israel, 26 March 2024
MF	Tim Breithaupt	(2002-02-07) 7 February 2002 (age 22)	3	0	FC Augsburg	v. Poland, 21 November 2023

FW	Karim Adeyemi	(2002-01-18) 18 January 2002 (age 22)	6	5	Borussia Dortmund	v. Estonia, 10 September 2024
FW	Keke Topp	(2004-03-25) 25 March 2004 (age 20)	1	0	Werder Bremen	v. Estonia, 10 September 2024
FW	Youssoufa Moukoko	(2004-11-20) 20 November 2004 (age 19)	13	12	OGC Nice	v. Israel, 26 March 2024

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
	17	Lukas Nmecha	2019–2021

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 (2016–2021)
Antonio Di Salvo (2021–)

Notes

References

^ "Our all-time Under-21 EURO dream team". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
^ "UEFA postpones matches in Israel". UEFA.com. 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
^ "Abschluss der EM-Qualifikation: Blank und Wanner neu dabei". dfb.de. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
^ "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.

[2] "UEFA postpones matches in Israel". UEFA.com. 8 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.

[3] "Abschluss der EM-Qualifikation: Blank und Wanner neu dabei". dfb.de. Retrieved 4 October 2024.

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

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