Why Germany's wins at Euro 2025 have been unconvincing despite ‘home advantage'

New York Times

3 days ago

A crowd of 34,165 at St. Jakob-Park in Basel, Switzerland, watched Germany defeat Denmark 2-1, setting a record attendance for a match not involving the host nation at the Women's European Championship. But it didn't explain the full picture.
The stadium in Basel is a mere 10-minute drive from the German border, and as thousands of supporters marched towards the stadium 90 minutes before kick-off, it was clear this was a home match for Germany. Some of those fans would be home in a couple of hours. Even those from Hamburg, in the north of Germany, can get a direct train home tomorrow morning.
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'Today it was very, very special to be in that situation, and to be involved in this,' said manager Christian Wuck after the game. 'And that's what we tell the players: enjoy every single second of this tournament, because you don't have this type of atmosphere often. In Basel, I heard there were lots of German fans in the town centre today and that the atmosphere was really good. The fan march is really special.'
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German support was audible, too. The German fans cheered the goals in the 56th and 66th minutes, booed when the video assistant referee (VAR) waved off an early goal for being offside, and banged drums throughout. But the noise grew most noticeably when Germany won possession and threatened to counter-attack. Those fans know that it's at those moments, the moments of transition, when their side are at their most dangerous.
Germany's best performers thus far have been the two wide players, Jule Brand on the right and Klara Buhl on the left. They linked up seamlessly for what they thought was an opener, only for a delayed VAR decision to rule it off due to a team-mate who was interfering with the goalkeeper's line of sight.
Brand and Buhl are technically sharp but also physically imposing. They dribble forward in a menacing, determined manner. It helps, too, that between them they have Lea Schuller, always peeling off into the channels hopefully and finishing with confidence, as she's done twice in as many games thus far.
In Germany's 2-0 win over Poland and the 2-1 win over Denmark, however, the team has not been convincing victors. In midfield, Germany are combative rather than elegant. Sjoeke Nusken is a peculiar midfielder who does her best work when running into the opposition's box. She also scored a calm penalty to equalise here. Her midfield colleague Elisa Senss is a useful midfield terrier, snapping into tackles and holding her position.
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That largely does the job against sides of this calibre, but there's also an absence of guile in possession. No-one like Melanie Leupolz, one of many players who are no longer part of this German side since the disappointment at World Cup 2023, when Germany were eliminated at the group stage, remains. Leupolz recently retired from football altogether at the age of just 31.
Germany's new generation features an impressive number of quality attackers, but it tends to be defences that win major tournaments. They've only conceded once at this tournament, but they certainly give opponents chances; Denmark had five and Poland had 10. Left-back Sarai Linder spent the second half popping up in inside-left positions, allowing Buhl to stay wide. Carlotta Wamser deputised well for Giulia Gwinn, the injured captain who had to leave the tournament early after an injury against Poland — Germany's players wore white wristbands as a tribute to her on Tuesday — but she's a converted attacker rather than a solid defender.
The centre-backs are often exposed; at the start of the second half, Rebecca Knaak had to stop a promising Denmark break with an incredibly cynical foul. 'We have quick players up front,' said Denmark manager Andree Jeglertz after the game. 'Germany are a very good team but at transitions, if you challenge their backline, you will have opportunities, which I think we did, especially in the first half.'
That said, the only heart-stopping moments for the 'home' German fans were, when 2-1 up, goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger twice performed drag-backs past opponents with the ball at her feet. In his post-match press conference, Wuck was asked if he was happy with that. 'No,' he replied flatly. 'That's all I can say right now. But of course I will discuss it with her. We have to find different solutions, or I will not grow old.'
Maybe Germany are just gathering momentum. Their toughest test of the group stage will come in Zurich on Saturday against Sweden, with the winner finishing top of Group C. But finishing top still won't give them an easy draw in the quarter-finals, as they'll face the runners-up from Group D, likely the Netherlands or England, the past two winners of this competition, who Germany used to defeat routinely. Those two sides were both able to count upon home advantage in 2017 and 2022, respectively. The 2025 final is back in Basel. If Germany get there, they'll be the ones with home advantage.