Germany Has Been Good Enough, For Now

Through two games at Euro 2025, Germany hasn't been the most impressive of top sides. The results flatter to deceive. After beating Poland 2-0 in the opener, Germany came back from a 1-0 deficit to beat Denmark 2-1, thereby qualifying for the knockout rounds. That's a tidy resume, even if neither Poland (27th FIFA rank) or Denmark (12th) are truly elite opposition, and there shouldn't be much to quibble from six points out of six, especially after Germany went out in the group stage of the 2023 World Cup. However, the specifics of how Germany is playing and its glaring weaknesses in defense might yet come back to bite the side as the competition gets tougher.

Still, though, the way Germany came back to beat Denmark deserves some recognition, even if it wasn't free of controversy. In a way, a tough and sloppy match might have been what Germany needed to prove, to itself mostly, that it was no longer carrying an emotional albatross from the last World Cup, a process that began in earnest with an encouraging bronze medal at last summer's Olympics. The first-half one-two-three punch combination the Germans suffered might have sank them if the weight of disappointment still hung around their necks, but on Tuesday, it didn't.

The negatives started in attack, though it's hard to say that VAR disallowing an 18th minute goal was a bad omen; rather, it felt like a warning klaxon for Denmark. That was when, after passing the ball around the outside of the box for a few seconds, Germany went ahead through a Klara Bühl rugburner into the far corner. But VAR dive-bombed into the proceedings and, after a lengthy check, (correctly) ruled that Sjoeke Nüsken had impeded the goalie's vision from an offside position.

Denmark wound up opening the scoring eight minutes later. In the 26th, Janni Thomsen charged forward with the ball into the German third, and though she lost possession, the ball fell into the path of forward Amalie Vangsgaard, who took a touch away from goal and then fired a tricky near-post strike from a tight angle that somehow beat Ann-Katrin Berger in goal:

Berger was surely at fault for the goal; if I remember anything from my youth days playing goalie, it's that you simply cannot get beat near post, and Vangsgaard's shot wasn't unstoppable by any means. You could also apportion some blame to center back Rebecca Knaak, who left the Danish striker with too much room, particularly since there was no other danger to cover. Regardless, Denmark led by pouncing on a German lapse of concentration, which was just what Germany deserved.

To their enduring credit, the Danes kept attacking after the goal, repeatedly pushing Germany back on counter attacks. If their shooting had been a bit more clinical, the tone of this article would be quite different, for Germany's defense kept struggling with a team that knew to put the backline on the back foot. Things would get worse, or at least unluckier, for Germany before they got better, as in the 37th minute, they appeared to earn a handball penalty, only for VAR to once again intervene and overturn it. Danish right back Frederikke Thogersen did hit the ball with her hand, but the replay showed it was just outside the box.

Down 1-0 at half, with two big decisions going against it, Germany had to regroup, and fast. A loss to Denmark would have put the Germans a tough spot heading into the last game, no longer fully in control of their own destiny. Luck, and that dreaded VAR, would have their say in the second half, however, as Germany came out a bit more focused on attack, though no more sturdy at the back. The mounting pressure on the Danish goal finally did pay off in the 53rd minute, when Katrine Veje (lightly, and perhaps too softly to really merit a foul) brought down Linda Dallmann in the box. After the third lengthy VAR check of the game, the penalty was awarded for Germany:

Nüsken would atone for her role in the disallowed would-be opener by burying the penalty, and suddenly things looked a lot rosier in Basel, which was more or less a home game for Germany due to the city's close proximity to the German border.

Things got even better 10 minutes later, but it wasn't without the aforementioned controversy. In the 66th minute, with Germany hunting for a winner, Denmark center back Emma Faerge attempted to clear the ball and reset the defense against a barrage of German attacks. Unfortunately for both her and her teammate, Faerge's clearance rocketed directly into the face of midfielder Emma Snerle, seemingly knocking her out cold. Referees are instructed to stop play when a player suffers a head injury, but Germany pounced on the ball so quickly, with Jule Brand—a worthy contender for player of the match, and for Germany's standout through two matches—picking out a wide open Lea Schüller for the goal, that I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt to ref Catarina Campos for not blowing the whistle before the goal went in.

Denmark might still feel aggrieved that Snerle—who will now miss the final group game against Poland with a concussion—was clearly down with a head injury only for play to continue, but if the goal hadn't come in that exact moment, it did feel like it was going to come soon. For all Germany's flaws in midfield and at the back, its attacking core has been as good as advertised, with Brand and Bühl terrorizing both opposing defenses down the flanks. Even though the Germans will be without captain Giulia Gwinn for the rest of the tournament after she hurt her knee against Poland, there's still enough firepower here to paper over the cracks in defense.

Will that be enough as the Euros filter out the weaker sides? Depending on how Group C's final matchday goes, where Germany and Sweden will face off for the right to top the group, as well as Group D's remaining two sets of games, Germany will play either France, England, or the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. All of those teams carry significant attacking threat, and there will be little place to hide Germany's defensive deficiencies. If the side is as sloppy as it was against Denmark, particularly in the first half, then those opponents should be able to feast. Despite only conceding one goal through two games, I feel very little confidence in Germany's ability to keep out enough shots to let its attackers do their thing. Unless something changes, one might look back at these Euros and think that Germany was luckier than it was good when it mattered.