DFB team misses title at U21 European Championship: Now draw the right conclusions

The German U21 footballers fell by the narrowest of margins. They were literally just centimeters away from claiming their fourth European Championship title after 2009, 2017, and 2021. With the score at 2-2 shortly before the end of regular time and again in the final seconds of extra time, when the German national team was trailing 2-3, shots hit the crossbar.

Thus, a previously strong tournament remains uncrowned for coach Antonio Di Salvo's team, which had previously gone 20 consecutive unbeaten matches. They presented a completely different face than the previous team two years ago, which was eliminated in the group stage – incidentally, with a loss to England.

But that's the only parallel. Despite the bitter tears that flowed on Saturday evening in Bratislava, the performances of the previous three weeks remain fondly remembered. National coach Julian Nagelsmann, who was on site for the final, will have also gained some insight into this.

Not only Nick Woltemade, who is already part of the senior national team, but also several other players are likely to soon join Nagelsmann's eleven. And yet, it has become clear: there's still a bit of a gap between them and the top.

The performances confirmed the trend in German youth football. The U17 team first became European champions in 2023 and then went on to win the World Cup. This year, a large part of this winning team was eliminated in dramatic and crazy fashion by Spain (5:6 after extra time) in the semifinals of the U19 European Championship.

Other nations—the English, the Spanish, the French—are one step ahead with their young elite. Now it's time to draw the right conclusions.

The path has been fundamentally heading in the right direction since Germany's Qatar embarrassment in 2022, but a few minor details are still missing. The two shots hitting the crossbar in this final are symbolic of this.