Under-21 final: England vs Germany facts

England and Germany meet for the second time at the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship with both looking to claim their fourth title in the final at the National Football Stadium in Bratislava.

Germany were 2-1 winners against the holders on Matchday 3, making it three victories from three in Group B, before beating Italy (3-2 aet) in the quarter-finals and France (3-0) in the semis to set up a second game against England at these finals.

The Young Lions were second in Group B on four points, winning only one of their three games (D1 L1) but then ousted Spain 3-1 in the last eight – a repeat of the 2023 final – and Netherlands 2-1 in the semi-finals.

Final facts

Both sides are aiming to win their fourth title; only Spain and Italy, with five each, have won more.

This is England's fifth final and Germany's sixth; only Spain (nine) and Italy (seven) have featured more.

This is the third time the teams have met in the final, after England's 5-4 aggregate victory in 1982 and Germany's 4-0 triumph in 2009. It is the second fixture to be played three times in the final, Spain and Italy meeting in 1986, 1996 and 2013.

Three of the last four finals have finished 1-0; Spain's 2-1 win against Germany in 2019 is the only final in the last five in which both sides scored. The last four finals have therefore all been decided by a single-goal margin.

England are looking to become the first team to retain the trophy on two separate occasions having previously triumphed in 1982 and 1984. Italy were victorious in 1992, 1994 and 1996, with Netherlands triumphing in 2006 and 2007 and Spain in 2011 and 2013.

Previous European U21 Championship meetings

Matches 13
England wins 5
Germany wins 3
Draws 5
England goals 20
Germany goals 18

First-half goals from Ansgar Knauff (3) – the Player of the Match – and Nelson Weiper (33) at the Nitra Stadium on 18 June sealed first place in Group B for Germany, who held on for a 2-1 win despite Alex Scott's 76th-minute reply for England.

England ended Germany's interest in the 2023 finals, early goals from Cameron Archer (4) and Harvey Elliott (21) earning a 2-0 Matchday 3 victory at the Batumi Arena on 28 June 2023 that made it three wins out of three in Group C and left Germany bottom of the section.

Germany had prevailed in the sides' previous competitive meeting, winning 4-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in the 2017 semi-finals. Davie Selke gave Germany a 35th-minute lead only for strikes either side of half-time from Demarai Gray (41) and Tammy Abraham (50) to turn the match in England's favour. Felix Platte made it 2-2 with 20 minutes remaining and misses from Abraham and Nathan Redmond proved crucial in the shoot-out.

England have not lost any of the teams' six U21 EURO qualifying fixtures, winning three and drawing three.

England recorded a 3-0 aggregate win in the play-offs ahead of the 2007 tournament. Leighton Baines' goal gave England a 1-0 lead to take into the second leg in Germany, where Theo Walcott struck twice to help England progress to the finals.

In the tournament itself, however, Germany were unbeaten (W1 D2) – with that 2017 semi-final classed as a draw – prior to their defeat two years ago.

The teams met in the 2009 final in Malmö, Sweden. Gonzalo Castro (23), Mesut Özil (48) and Sandro Wagner (79, 84) got the goals in a 4-0 victory for Horst Hrubesch's Germany.

The teams had also previously met in the group stage in Sweden, playing out a 1-1 draw.

England triumphed 5-4 on aggregate in the two-legged final in 1982. After a 3-1 win at Bramall Lane, Sheffield, in late September, England clung on in the return in Bremen in mid-October despite a Pierre Littbarski hat-trick giving West Germany a 3-2 victory.

Paul Wanner opened the scoring as Germany lost 2-3 at home to England in an Under-20 friendly on 20 November 2023.

Samuel Iling-Junior had got both goals in England's 2-0 win at home to Germany in a U20 friendly on 22 March 2023.

James McAtee scored England's second goal in a 3-1 U20 friendly victory at home to Germany on 29 March 2022.

Form guide

England

This is England's fifth U21 final. Their record is W3 L1:
1982 West Germany W 5-4 agg (3-1 h, 2-3 a)
1984 Spain W 3-0 agg (1-0 a, 2-0 h)
2009 Germany L 0-4
2023 Spain W 1-0

England's 4-0 loss to Germany in Malmö 16 years ago remains the heaviest defeat in a single-leg final.

The Young Lions are in the knockout stages for the fifth time since an eight-team final tournament was introduced in 1998. Before 2023 they had won only one of their four previous knockout ties in those finals but have now been victorious in the last five.

A team coached by Lee Carsley claimed England's first U21 title in 39 years in 2023, finishing first in Group C on a maximum nine points before beating Portugal (1-0), Israel (3-0) and Spain (1-0).

This is England's tenth successive final tournament campaign – the longest ongoing sequence in the competition – and a 12th overall; they last missed out in 2006.

Carsley's side qualified for these finals as Group F winners (W8 D1 L1), their 41 goals more than any other side. A 3-2 loss against runners-up Ukraine was their first away qualifying defeat in 12 years.

Elliott – a member of the victorious 2023 squad – was England's top scorer in qualifying on seven goals and has four at the finals, including one against Spain and both against Netherlands in the semi-finals.

The 0-0 Matchday 2 draw against Slovenia ended England's run of eight successive final tournament victories.

Defeat against Germany on Matchday 3 is England's only loss in 12 finals matches (W10 D1).

Germany 

This is Germany's sixth U21 final; their record is W3 L2:
1982 England L 4-5 agg (1-3 a, 3-2 h)
2009 England W 4-0
2017 Spain W 1-0
2019 Spain L 1-2
2021 Portugal W 1-0

Germany claimed their third U21 title in 2021, when they equalled Italy's record of reaching a third successive final, having also lifted the trophy in 2009 and 2017.

Germany have reached the final in four of the last five tournaments.

This is Germany's 11th appearance in the final tournament and a seventh in succession. They have reached the semi-finals or better in five of the last six.

Two years ago a team coached by Antonio Di Salvo – in charge since 2021 – failed to progress beyond the group stage for the first time since 2013, finishing bottom of Group C behind England, Israel and Czechia having not won a game (D1 L2).

Germany were unbeaten in qualifying for these finals (W8 D2), finishing four points above runners-up Poland in Group D.

Having hit only the seventh hat-trick in U21 EURO history against Slovenia on Matchday 1 and also found the net against Czechia and in knockout rounds against Italy and France, Nick Woltemade is the finals' top scorer on six goals.

Woltemade is one short of the final tournament goals record of seven, jointly held by Marcus Berg of Sweden and Germany's Luca Waldschmidt.

Links and trivia

Have played in England:
Brajan Gruda (Brighton 2024–)
Bright Arrey-Mbi (Norwich 2014–19, Chelsea 2019/20)

Have played together:
Jack Hinshelwood & Brajan Gruda (Brighton 2024–)

Knauff got the opener as Eintracht Frankfurt won 2-1 at West Ham in the 2021/22 UEFA Europa League semi-final first leg, and also set up the only goal of the home return.