Germany miss out on a place in the Nations League final. The hosts of the Final Four lost 2-1 to Portugal in the semi-final in Munich after taking the lead.
04.06.2025, 23:09
04.06.2025, 23:11
SDA
Portugal turned the game around within five minutes. It took two remarkable individual efforts to do so. The first was by Francisco Conceição, who scored shortly after coming on as a substitute to make it 1-1. In the 63rd minute, the brother of FCZ's Rodrigo passed Robin Gosens and scored with a flick. Shortly afterwards, it was the newly crowned Champions League winner Nuno Mendes who broke through the German back line and laid the ball on ideally for goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo.
Once again, Ronaldo was the acclaimed scorer. The 40-year-old played his 220th international match and was almost completely unsuccessful with his actions in Munich - until the 68th minute and the shot to win the game. It was the five-time world footballer's 137th goal for Portugal, who scored their first goal against Germany at the fifth attempt.
Germany, weakened by absences, had taken the lead three minutes after the break through a combination between Joshua Kimmich and Florian Wirtz, although the DFB team were lucky that debutant Nick Woltemade's effort was not judged to be offside. After Wirtz's seventh international goal, the hosts were too passive and were no longer dangerous for long periods. Karim Adeyemi only had an excellent chance to equalize in the 82nd minute with a shot that hit the post.
While Germany now travel to Stuttgart for the match for third place, Portugal will be aiming for their second Nations League title in Munich on Sunday. Their opponents will be European champions Spain or France, who face each other on Thursday evening.
