Germany national under-21 football team

Germany Under-21
Association	Deutscher Fußball-Bund
Head coach	Antonio Di Salvo
Captain	Tom Bischof
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 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	Runners-up	2nd	6	5	0	1	17	7	10	8	2	0	35	10	2025
Total	3 titles	15/25	58	27	13*	18	98	71	186	132	29	25	500	148	Total

Individual awards

Golden Player: Rudi Völler (1982)
Golden Boot: Luca Waldschmidt (2019), Lukas Nmecha (2021), Nick Woltemade (2025)
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

2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Germany	7	6	0	1	22	4	+18	18	Final tournament	—	2–3	3–0	6 Oct	5–0	6–0
2	Greece	7	6	0	1	21	4	+17	18	Final tournament or play-offs	0–2	—	4–0	3–0	1 Oct	5–0
3	Northern Ireland	7	3	1	3	8	11	−3	10		1–2	6 Oct	—	1 Oct	1–0	2–0
4	Georgia	7	2	3	2	12	9	+3	9		0–2	26 Sep	1–1	—	1–1	4–1
5	Latvia (E)	7	1	2	4	4	12	−8	5		26 Sep	0–1	1–3	1–1	—	6 Oct
6	Malta (E)	7	0	0	7	1	28	−27	0		30 Sep	0–5	26 Sep	0–5	0–1	—

Updated to match(es) played on 31 March 2026. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(E) Eliminated

Results and fixtures

Win Draw Loss

25 June 2025 2025 UEFA Euro	Germany	3–0	France	Košice, Slovakia
21:00	Weiper 8' Woltemade 14' Gruda 90+5'	Report		Stadium: Košická futbalová aréna Attendance: 11,913 Referee: Nick Walsh (Scotland)

28 June 2025 2025 UEFA Euro	England	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Germany	Tehelné pole, Slovakia
21:00	Elliott 5' Hutchinson 24' Rowe 92'	Report	Weiper 45+1' Nebel 61'	Stadium: Tehelné pole Attendance: 19,153 Referee: Sander van der Eijk (Netherlands)

5 September 2025 Friendly	Albania	0–2	Germany	Elbasan
18:00		Report	Ansah 48' Pejčinović 52'	Stadium: Elbasan Arena Attendance: 2,234 Referee: Eldorjan Hamiti (Albania)

9 September 2025 2027 UEFA EC Q	Germany	5–0	Latvia	Rostock
20:30	Weiper 19' Tresoldi 44', 50', 57' Damar 59'	Report		Stadium: Ostseestadion Attendance: 9,019 Referee: Łukasz Kuźma (Poland)

10 October 2025 2027 UEFA EC Q	Germany	2–3	Greece	Jena
18:00	Damar 54' Rothe 59'	Report	Kostoulas 13' Tzimas 14' Rallis 81'	Stadium: Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld Attendance: 7,830 Referee: Matteo Marcenaro (Italy)

14 October 2025 2027 UEFA EC Q	Northern Ireland	1–2	Germany	Belfast
18:30	McConville 4'	Report	Ouédraogo 79' Pejčinović 83' (pen.)	Stadium: The Oval Attendance: 1,152 Referee: Patrik Kolarić (Croatia)

14 November 2025 2027 UEFA EC Q	Germany	6–0	Malta	Fürth
18:00	Bischof 9', 63', 65' Karl 37', 67' Damar 86'	Report		Stadium: Sportpark Ronhof Thomas Sommer Attendance: 7,729 Referee: David Fuxman (Israel)

18 November 2025 2027 UEFA EC Q	Georgia	0–2	Germany	Tbilisi
21:00		Report	Karl 45+2' Tresoldi 58'	Stadium: Mikheil Meskhi Stadium Attendance: 2,357 Referee: Ashot Ghaltakhchyan (Armenia)

27 March 2026 2027 UEFA EC Q	Germany	3–0	Northern Ireland	Braunschweig
18:00	Tresoldi 11' (pen.), 41' Weiper 90'	Report		Stadium: Eintracht-Stadion Attendance: 10,391 Referee: Jakob Sundberg (Denmark)

31 March 2026 2027 UEFA EC Q	Greece	0–2	Germany	Athens
18:00		Report	El Mala 11' Kade 73'	Stadium: Leoforos Alexandras Stadium Attendance: 4,835 Referee: Marc Nagtegaal (Netherlands)

26 September 2026 2027 UEFA EC Q	Latvia	v	Germany
		Report

30 September 2026 2027 UEFA EC Q	Malta	v	Germany
		Report

6 October 2026 2027 UEFA EC Q	Germany	v	Georgia
		Report

Players

Current squad

Players born in or after 2004 are eligible for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

The following players were called up for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying matches against Northern Ireland and Greece on 27 and 31 March 2026.^[2]

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

Caps and goals correct as of 31 March 2026, after the match against Greece.^[3]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Dennis Seimen	(2005-12-01) 1 December 2005 (age 20)	4	0	SC Paderborn
12	1GK	Mio Backhaus	(2004-04-16) 16 April 2004 (age 22)	5	0	Werder Bremen
22	1GK	Max Weiß	(2004-06-15) 15 June 2004 (age 22)	0	0	Burnley

2	2DF	Leandro Morgalla	(2004-09-13) 13 September 2004 (age 21)	8	0	VfL Bochum
3	2DF	Lukas Ullrich	(2004-03-16) 16 March 2004 (age 22)	11	0	Borussia Mönchengladbach
4	2DF	Finn Jeltsch	(2006-07-17) 17 July 2006 (age 19)	6	0	VfB Stuttgart
5	2DF	Joshua Quarshie	(2004-07-26) 26 July 2004 (age 21)	6	0	Southampton
13	2DF	Tom Rothe	(2004-10-29) 29 October 2004 (age 21)	7	1	Union Berlin
14	2DF	Linus Gechter	(2004-02-27) 27 February 2004 (age 22)	5	0	Hertha BSC
15	2DF	Karim Coulibaly	(2007-05-23) 23 May 2007 (age 19)	2	0	Werder Bremen

6	3MF	Tom Bischof (captain)	(2005-06-28) 28 June 2005 (age 21)	6	3	Bayern Munich
7	3MF	Said El Mala	(2006-08-26) 26 August 2006 (age 19)	7	1	1. FC Köln
8	3MF	Aljoscha Kemlein	(2004-08-02) 2 August 2004 (age 21)	8	0	Union Berlin
10	3MF	Brajan Gruda	(2004-05-31) 31 May 2004 (age 22)	20	3	Brighton & Hove Albion
16	3MF	Mika Baur	(2004-07-09) 9 July 2004 (age 21)	1	0	SC Paderborn
17	3MF	Anton Kade	(2004-01-17) 17 January 2004 (age 22)	4	1	FC Augsburg
18	3MF	Mert Kömür	(2005-07-17) 17 July 2005 (age 20)	6	0	FC Augsburg
20	3MF	Arijon Ibrahimović	(2005-12-11) 11 December 2005 (age 20)	2	0	1. FC Heidenheim
21	3MF	Noah Darvich	(2006-09-25) 25 September 2006 (age 19)	0	0	VfB Stuttgart
22	3MF	Cajetan Lenz	(2006-06-16) 16 June 2006 (age 20)	0	0	VfL Bochum

9	4FW	Nicolò Tresoldi	(2004-08-20) 20 August 2004 (age 21)	24	12	Brugge
11	4FW	Nelson Weiper	(2005-03-17) 17 March 2005 (age 21)	19	6	Mainz 05
19	4FW	Dženan Pejčinović	(2005-02-15) 15 February 2005 (age 21)	7	2	VfL Wolfsburg

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	Leon-Oumar Wechsel	(2005-03-09) 9 March 2005 (age 21)	0	0	GKS Tychy	v. Norway, 14 October 2025

DF	Nnamdi Collins	(2004-01-10) 10 January 2004 (age 22)	12	0	Eintracht Frankfurt	v. Northern Ireland, 27 March 2026
DF	Max Finkgräfe	(2004-03-27) 27 March 2004 (age 22)	0	0	RB Leipzig	v. Northern Ireland, 27 March 2026
DF	Aaron Zehnter	(2004-10-31) 31 October 2004 (age 21)	2	0	VfL Wolfsburg	v. Georgia, 18 November 2025
DF	Hendry Blank	(2004-08-21) 21 August 2004 (age 21)	6	0	Hannover 96	v. Norway, 14 October 2025
DF	Elias Baum	(2005-10-26) 26 October 2005 (age 20)	4	0	Eintracht Frankfurt	v. Norway, 14 October 2025
DF	Tim Drexler	(2005-03-06) 6 March 2005 (age 21)	1	0	1. FC Nürnberg	v. Norway, 14 October 2025
DF	Kofi Amoako	(2005-05-06) 6 May 2005 (age 21)	0	0	Dynamo Dresden	v. Norway, 14 October 2025
DF	Julian Pauli	(2005-07-20) 20 July 2005 (age 20)	0	0	Dynamo Dresden	v. Greece, 10 October 2025

MF	Noël Aséko Nkili	(2005-11-22) 22 November 2005 (age 20)	5	0	Hannover 96	v. Northern Ireland, 27 March 2026
MF	Muhammed Damar	(2004-04-09) 9 April 2004 (age 22)	6	3	TSG Hoffenheim	v. Georgia, 18 November 2025
MF	Lennart Karl	(2008-02-22) 22 February 2008 (age 18)	2	3	Bayern Munich	v. Georgia, 18 November 2025
MF	Mika Baur	(2004-07-09) 9 July 2004 (age 21)	0	0	SC Paderborn	v. Georgia, 18 November 2025
MF	Assan Ouédraogo	(2006-05-09) 9 May 2006 (age 20)	2	1	RB Leipzig	v. Malta, 14 November 2025
MF	Paul Wanner	(2005-12-23) 23 December 2005 (age 20)	9	1	1. FC Heidenheim	v. Norway, 14 October 2025
MF	Aaron Zehnter	(2004-10-31) 31 October 2004 (age 21)	1	0	VfL Wolfsburg	v. Latvia, 9 September 2025
MF	Umut Tohumcu	(2004-08-11) 11 August 2004 (age 21)	4	0	TSG Hoffenheim	v. Latvia, 5 September 2025

FW	Ilyas Ansah	(2004-11-08) 8 November 2004 (age 21)	6	1	Union Berlin	v. Georgia, 18 November 2025

Past squads

Player records

Most caps

No. of caps	Player	U-21 career
31	Fabian Ernst	1998–2001
30	Levin Öztunalı	2015–2019
	Ansgar Knauff	2021–2025
	Eric Martel	2021–2025
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
	Nicolò Tresoldi	2023–present

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
	15	Youssoufa Moukoko	2021–
	18	Nick Woltemade	2023–2025
12	24	Nicolò Tresoldi	2023–present
11	22	Kevin Volland	2012–2015

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. Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
↑ "Mit zwei Rückkehrern und drei Neuen gegen Nordirland und Griechenland". dfb.de. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
↑ "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. Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2016.

[2] "Mit zwei Rückkehrern und drei Neuen gegen Nordirland und Griechenland". dfb.de. Retrieved 20 March 2026.

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

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