Germany reached their first quarter-final in four attempts at a major tournament as goals from Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala secured a 2-0 win over Denmark in a storm-delayed encounter in Dortmund.
On the eve of Saturday night’s game at Signal Iduna Park, meteorologists had warned that poor weather conditions in the Ruhr area could disrupt the game. Referee Michael Oliver was forced to suspend play for 20 minutes in the first half as a precaution.
At that point, Germany had seen Nico Schlotterbeck’s header ruled out after Andreas Skov Olsen was blocked by Joshua Kimmich.
Rasmus Hojlund was guilty of missing two good chances late in the first half, but the big flash point of the match came down to Crystal Palace defender Joachim Andersen within a few minutes.
The players were sent off during the first half due to thunderstorms at the stadium.
Firstly, the centre-back thought he had scored the first goal for his country when he swiveled and found the bottom corner, but Thomas Delaney was judged to be slightly offside in the build-up to the ball.
As Germany celebrated their reprieve, VAR Stuart Atwell spotted a handball from Andersen moments later as he blocked David Raum’s cross. It looked harsh given Andersen’s proximity to the cross, but Havertz remained calm to beat Kasper Schmeichel from 12 yards.
There was, however, nothing controversial about Germany’s second goal, which killed the contest as Schlotterbeck picked out the run of Musiala, who broke away from Andersen to shoot past Schmeichel and set up a quarter-final against the Spain or Georgia.
Talk about ITVRoy Keane was not impressed with the Danish goalkeeper’s decision-making, saying: “His starting position was correct but then Kasper hesitates in that split second and makes the wrong decision. Once he started to come back towards his own goal he was in trouble. It was a brilliant finish but the hesitation cost him dearly.
Kai Havertz penalty gives Germany lead in Dortmund
Statistics: Match story
Featured Player – Kai Havertz
Germany have now won three of their five meetings against Denmark in major competitions (World Cups/EUROs – L2), with all three victories coming in the UEFA European Championship finals (also 1988 and 2012).
From the sublime to the ridiculous. It’s a performance that the Arsenal striker is famous for, the kind of performance that makes him so entertaining. He should have scored from six yards out in the first half when he headed David Raum’s shot straight at Schmeichel.
In the second act, Jannik Vestergaard made a superb technical move but the finish was missed again. But Havertz did an incredible job and his efforts were rewarded with a penalty.
In what was his 50th cap for Germany, Havertz scored his 18th goal for the national team, with only Niclas Füllkrug (7) scoring more goals since Julian Nagelsmann’s appointment than his six.
Only Jürgen Klinsmann and Mario Gomez (both 5) have scored more goals for Germany at the UEFA European Championship final tournament than Havertz (4), while he scored five goals at his last 10 matches for the national team.
Musiala comes of age – Opta Statistics
Musiala is the first German player to score more than three goals in a single EURO since Mario Gómez in 2012 (3)
- Only Wayne Rooney (4) has scored more goals at 21 and under in the UEFA European Championship finals than Germany’s Jamal Musiala (3), while he has scored more goals in this EURO in four matches than in his first 29 appearances for the national team (2).
- Manuel Neuer made his 38th appearance for Germany in a major competition; the best player of the national team alongside Bastian Schweinsteiger. Indeed, it was also his 19th appearance at the UEFA European Championship finals, a record for a German player.
- Only France and the Netherlands (6 each) have scored more penalties in the UEFA European Championship final stages than Germany (5, not including penalties), only EURO 2020 (9) having seen more penalties scored than EURO 2024 (8).
- Germany have reached the quarter-finals of a major competition for the first time since EURO 2016, reaching the semi-finals of that edition.
