Five Things to Know: Germany

Two of the top-ranked teams in the world will square off twice in a span of four days as the U.S. Women’s National Team, ranked No. 1 in the most recent FIFA Women’s Rankings, hosts third-ranked Germany in a pair of friendlies to close out the 2022 campaign.

The USA and Germany, who last met in 2018, will square off on Thursday, Nov. 10 at DVR PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (7 p.m. ET on FS1) and play again on Sunday, Nov. 13 at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. The gap of more than four years between meetings is the longest in the history between the two countries.

­­Get ready for the last matches of the year with Five Things to Know about Germany.

SUCCESSFUL SUMMER IN ENGLAND

Germany finished runner up at the 2022 UEFA Women’s EURO, narrowly falling to England in overtime, 2-1, on July 31 in front of a record-setting crowd of 87,192 fans at Wembley Stadium. Midfielder Lina Magull scored Germany’s lone goal in the match.

Germany, which has won a record eight Women’s European Championships, advanced to its ninth EURO final and first since 2013 after an impressive run through the group stage and knockout round. The Germans compiled a perfect 3-0-0 record to finish first in Group B, downing Denmark (4-0), Spain (2-0) and Finland (3-0).

In the quarterfinals, Germany downed Austria 2-0 behind goals from Magull and forward Alexandra Popp. Popp tallied again twice in Germany’s 2-1 semifinal win over France, including a game-winner in the 76^th minute for what was her sixth goal of the tournament, which tied with England’s Beth Mead for the most by any player in the tournament.

In the final against England, Germany was without forward Klara Buhl, who was ruled out due to a positive COVID result, and Popp, who was forced to withdraw shortly before kickoff due to injury. Despite the absences, Germany created chances throughout the match and finally found the back of the net in the 79^th minute, as Magull tallied an equalizer to force the match into overtime. England scored the game-winning goal in 110^th minute to hand the Germans their first ever defeat in a EURO final. 

Germany has played three matches since the Euros, defeating Turkey (3-0 on September 3) and Bulgaria (8-0 on September 6) during the September FIFA Window, and defeating France, 2-1, on October 7 behind a brace from Popp.

 

INSIDE THE ROSTER

Seventeen of the 26 players on Germany’s roster for these friendlies were a part of head coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s squad for the 2022 EURO. Popp is the most-capped player on this roster with 122 international appearances and has 61 career goals, good for fifth all-time in the history of the Germany Women’s National Team. Midfielder Svenja Huth is the next most experienced player on the roster with 75 caps while Magull has 22 goals in 66 international appearances, the second-most goals by any player on this roster. Midfielder Lena Oberdorf is another standout on this German roster. The 20-year-old was named the EURO 2022 Young Player of the Tournament and has 33 caps already in her young career.

All but two players called in for the matches against the USA player their club soccer in Germany in the Frauen-Bundesliga. Nine players compete for reigning league champions VfL Wolfsburg, a contingent which includes Popp, Huth, Oberdorf and first-choice goalkeeper Merle Frohms, with an additional five players each from Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayern Munich. The only players currently playing their club soccer outside of Germany are goalkeepers Almuth Schult, who joined Angel City FC in NWSL after the EURO, and Ann-Katrin Berger, who players for reigning WSL champions Chelsea in England.

 

GERMANY WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM – ROSTER BY POSITION

 

GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Merle Frohms (VfL Wolfsburg), 12-Almuth Schult (Angel City FC, USA), 30-Ann-Katrin Berger (Chelsea FC, ENG)        

 

DEFENDERS (10): 2-Carolin Simon (FC Bayern München), 3-Kathrin Hendrich (VfL Wolfsburg), 4-Sophia Kleinherne (Eintracht Frankfurt), 5-Jana Feldkamp (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim), 8-Maximiliane Rall (FC Bayern München), 17-Felicitas Rauch (VfL Wolfsburg), 23-Sara Doorsoun (Eintracht Frankfurt), 24-Sjoeke Nüsken (Eintracht Frankfurt), 25-Nicole Anyomi (Eintracht Frankfurt), 28-Joelle Wedemeyer (VfL Wolfsburg)  

 

MIDFIELDERS (9): 6-Lena Oberdorf (VfL Wolfsburg), 9-Svenja Huth (VfL Wolfsburg), 14-Lena Lattwein (VfL Wolfsburg), 16-Linda Dallmann (FC Bayern München), 20-Lina Magull (FC Bayern München), 22-Jule Brand (VfL Wolfsburg), 26-Chantal Hagel (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim), 27-Paulina Krumbiegel (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim), 31-Janina Minge (SC Freiburg)  

 

FORWARDS (4): 10-Laura Freigang (Eintracht Frankfurt), 11-Alexandra Popp (VfL Wolfsburg), 19-Klara Bühl (FC Bayern München), 33-Melissa Kossler (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim)

SERIES HISTORY: USA vs. GERMANY

The USA and Germany have played 33 times previously with the USWNT leading the overall series 22-4-7. Despite the long history between the teams – which dates back to 1988 – this will be the first meeting between the sides since 2018, when the teams met on March 1 in the SheBelieves Cup. The USA won 1-0 behind a 17^th minute goal from Megan Rapinoe on a snowy and windy night in Columbus, Ohio on the first match day of the tournament.

The last three meetings between the USA and Germany all came during the SheBelieves Cup, with the teams meeting during the 2016, 2017 and 2018 editions of the tournament. The USA won all three matchups – and is unbeaten in the last 15 head-to-head meetings with Germany – though all three games were decided by just one goal. In 2016, the USA won 2-1 behind goals from Alex Morgan and Samantha Mewis, followed by a 1-0 victory in 2017 behind a game-winner from Lynn Williams.

Thursday’s game in Fort Lauderdale will be the 17^th meeting between the teams on U.S. soil, where the USA has a record a 11-2-3 in the previous 16 meetings.

Germany will be the fifth different European opponent the USA has faced this year and the ninth since the start of 2021, having played Sweden twice during that span and the Netherlands, Portugal, France, Czech Republic, Iceland, England and Spain once each.

Ranked No. 3 in the world in the latest FIFA rankings, Germany is the highest-ranked opponent the USA has faced this year and the highest-ranked foe for the top-ranked Americans since playing third-ranked France in April of 2021. The USA won that match in Le Havre on April 13, 2021, 2-0, behind goals from Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe.

COUNTDOWN TO DOWN UNDER

Germany is one of seven nations to have qualified for every FIFA Women’s World Cup in history and punched its ticket to Australia/New Zealand 2023 on September 3 when it defeated Turkey 3-0 to officially top Group H in UEFA Qualifying. The Germans complied an overall record of 9-1-0 in qualifying, the lone blemish coming in a 3-2 upset loss to Serbia on April 12, 2022. Overall, Germany was dominant throughout group play, scoring a total of 47 goals across the 10 matches while conceding just five. Forward Lea Schuller, who was originally named to the roster for the matches against the USA but later ruled out due to injury, led Germany with 15 goals in qualifying. Forward Laura Freigang was the next highest scorer with five goals.

Like the other 28 teams qualified for the 2023 World Cup, Germany learned its group and opening round matchups at the 2023 Women’s World Cup Final Draw held on Oct. 22 in Auckland, New Zealand. Germany was drawn into Group H where it will face World Cup debutant Morocco in its opening match (July 24 in Melbourne/Naarm), followed by games against Colombia (July 30 in Sydney/Gadigal) and Korea Republic (Aug. 3 in Brisbane/Meaanjin). Germany will play all of its matches in Australia and is looking to advance out of the group for a ninth consecutive Women’s World Cup.

Germany lost to Sweden in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, marking just the third time in eight World Cup appearances that the Germans had advance to at least the semifinals.

CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREES

The USA and Germany are two of the most successful teams in the history of the sport, accounting for 11 of the 15 world championships that have been contested in women’s international soccer. The USA has won four FIFA Women’s World Cup titles (1991, 1999, 2015, 2019) and four Olympic gold medals (1996, 2004, 2008, 2012) while Germany is the only other nation to win multiple Women’s World Cup titles, (2003, 2007) and won Olympic gold in 2016.

Five of the previous 33 meetings between the USA and Germany have come at world championships, meeting once at the Olympics and four times at the World Cup. The lone meeting at the Olympics game in the 2004 semifinals, when a 19-year-old Heather O’Reilly scored in overtime to lift the Americans to a 2-1 victory.

The teams’ World Cup history dates back to the semifinal of the inaugural Women’s World Cup in 1991 in China, a 5-2 upset victory for the United States en route to capturing the first ever Women’s World Cup. They met again in a 3-2 USA quarterfinal win on July 1, 1999, in Maryland, a 3-0 Germany semifinal win on Oct. 5, 2003, in Portland, Oregon; and the most recent 2-0 USA win on July 2, 2015, in the semifinal in Canada.

The winner of each of those matches between the USA and Germany at a world championship went on to win the World Cup or gold medal that respective year.