Nations League: Germany also loses the match for third place against France

(dpa) The German national football team also lost the match for third place in the Nations League. Coach Julian Nagelsmann's team suffered a 2-0 (0-1) defeat to World Cup runners-up France in Stuttgart on Sunday.

Kylian Mbappé (45th minute) and Bayern's Michael Olise (84th) sealed the victory with their goals. After a strong first half, Germany, in front of 51,313 spectators, had goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen to thank for not conceding more goals. In contrast to the disappointing 2-1 defeat against Portugal in the semi-final, Nagelsmann's team was not so faultless. Up front, however, they lacked efficiency and also had a bit of luck, as with Florian Wirtz's shot that hit the post in the 37th minute. There were also two VAR frustrations, one with a penalty review and the other with a goal awarded by Deniz Undav (53rd minute).

This fourth edition was the first time that Germany qualified for the Final Four tournament. France, who had already won the title in 2020/21, failed to make it to the semifinals this time with a spectacular 5-4 defeat to Spain.

For national coach Julian Nagelsmann, the last four was of great importance; he was determined to win the Nations League. The Nations League was intended to be a successful experience for his team, one that would strengthen their own abilities for the coming year. "We want to build our self-confidence. We want to get to the point where we can win titles, even if it's a small one," Nagelsmann said beforehand.

"I think, considering the chances and the way the game was played, and so on, it wasn't deserved. Unfortunately, goals are part of the game of football," Nagelsmann said on RTL after the defeat to France. Overall, the 37-year-old also drew a positive conclusion from the performance against the French, including their outstanding superstar Kylian Mbappé: "Today's game was good, in terms of feeling, but obviously not the result."

But he told the team after the summer break, looking ahead to this year's upcoming games: "If we're willing to invest less in each of the (World Cup) qualifiers than we did today, then we'll win the games." They had shown that, despite injury, they could create ten very good chances, even against a top team. They just couldn't capitalize on them.

"If you look at the first half, I think we should have been leading 3-0 after six minutes," said Germany captain Joshua Kimmich. "We lost a bit of patience in the second half," Kimmich added.