2025 Women's Under-17 EURO semi-final preview: Germany vs Spain

Germany and Spain will bid to join France in the final of the Women's Under-17 EURO on Thursday evening.

We preview the action in Northern Ireland.

Germany vs Spain

Record eight-time champions Germany had only once missed the finals before failing to reach both of the last two tournaments and they made up for lost time by starting with a 3-1 win against Norway, followed by a 1-0 defeat of England through captain Johanna Hebben's composed penalty to seal first place in Group A.

That meant Germany could afford a closing 1-0 defeat by host nation Northern Ireland on their way to a 13th semi-final appearance – one behind Spain's record – despite hitting the woodwork four times in a game Sabine Loderer has told her side not to dwell on.

Former Under-16 coach Loderer took charge shortly after Germany won the 2022 final on penalties against Spain with the help of an 88th-minute equaliser and lost the same fixture in the semi-finals at that year's World Cup, the decisive goal arriving in the 90th minute.

Spain started with a 4-0 win against Finland before that defeat by France despite having seven of the nine attempts on targets between the teams, then beat Poland 4-1 in a decider. Their group stage goals all came from different players including Rocío Elaine, who scored four times in five games during qualifying.

A title winner in Mexico following a spell at club level in Japan, coach Mila Martínez led Spain to a perfect group stage at the 2025 World Cup before a defeat on penalties by France in the last 16. She then oversaw an unbeaten EURO qualifying campaign in which her side averaged five goals a game before a 0-0 draw with Portugal in March.

Iraia Fernández, Vera Molina, Candela Rodríguez and Carlota Chacón were part of the squad who won the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup play-off in 2025.

Spain won their last meeting with Germany at the finals 2-0 during the 2023 group stage and are targeting a 40th victory of all time at the tournament. Germany collected their 30th win by beating England.

Sabine Loderer, Germany coach: "We know the Spanish team and have played against them several times with this age group. They're a very strong team with many excellent players who often attack through the centre and are very versatile. We want to counter them in our own way, as we've already shown defensively in this tournament. With the intensity and sharpness with which our girls approach the games – whether in attack or defence – the Spanish team will have problems."

Mila Martínez, Spain coach: "Germany are a great team, so it's going to be a great match in a semi-final. There are details we can attack. We have an incredible group of players – the coaching staff talk about it a lot. They always play with so much enthusiasm, desire and ambition and they know how to bounce back from any situation. It's a very ambitious team and they have a great chance of bringing us a lot of joy."