Julian Nagelsmann leads Germany into the Nations League last-four for the very first time, where they face a Portugal outfit that contains the evergreen Cristiano Ronaldo at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday (kick-off: 8pm CEST).
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Since their quarter-final exit on home soil at UEFA Euro 2024, Nagelsmann has overseen five wins and three draws across eight unbeaten Nations League fixtures on route to this semi-final in Munich. The former Hoffenheim, RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich boss now has his eyes on the trophy after telling media this week: “The goal is to win the Nations League title.” They will have to do so without the services of Jamal Musiala who, like Antonio Rüdiger, Nico Schlotterbeck and Angelo Stiller, is a Nagelsmann regular missing through injury. Tim Kleindienst scored in both legs of the quarter-final win over Italy but is another injured absentee. There is good news in the return of Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who Nagelsmann confirmed will start in goal, while Joshua Kimmich is set to lead the team out in his 100th appearance. All eyes will be on Bayer Leverkusen star Florian Waitz to make up for the loss of Musiala amid speculation over the former’s future. There are new faces in the squad in the form of the imposing figure of Nick Woltemade and new Bayern signing Tom Bischof, who will both be itching to impress if given debuts.
Portugal have had a similar run since their own Euro 2024 defeat in the quarters, also winning four and drawing two of their six subsequent Nations League group games before overturning a 1-0 loss to Denmark in the previous round with a 5-2 victory in the second-leg to tee up their meeting with Germany. At the ripe age of 40, Ronaldo remains his country’s talismanic figure up front and is expected to captain the side in attack. João Palhinha, fresh from winning the Bundesliga title in his first season at Bayern, is the sole representative in the Portugal squad who plies their trade in German football but his limited appearances for Vincent Kompany‘s team mean he is unlikely to start. The Paris Saint-Germain trio of João Neves, Nuno Mendes and Vitinha have a quick turnaround from Saturday night’s UEFA Champions League final and their international duties but, with both games taking place at Bayern’s Allianz Arena, their travel is far more forgiving and they should feature.
Match stats
Kimmich will earn his 100th cap if he plays, and become the 14th German to pass the 100-cap mark.
Nagelsmann’s record as Germany head coach reads: W12, D6, L3.
Mainz striker Jonathan Burkardt was the Bundesliga’s top-scoring German in 2024/25 with 18 goals.
Ronaldo has played against Germany five times at major tournaments but has never been on the winning side and scored just once – a consolation in the 4-2 group stage loss at Euro 2024.
Germany’s win in 2024 – the last time these two met – was their fifth victory on the bounce against Porugal, a record that dates back to 2006.
While this is Germany’s first time in the Nations League Final Four, Portugal are back at this stage for the first time since winning the inaugural compteition in 2018/19.
Probable teams
Germany: ter Stegen – Kimmich (c), Tah, Anton, Mittelstädt – Groß, Goretzka – Sané, Wirtz, Adayemi – Burkardt
Remaining squad: Baumann, Nübel, Koch, Bisseck, Raum, Andrich, Nmecha, Amiri, Gnabry, Gosens, Pavlović, Bischof, Füllkrug, Undav
Out: Havertz (hamstring), Henrichs (achilles), Kleindienst (knee), Musiala (hamstring), Rüdiger (knee), Schlotterbeck (knee), Stiller (ankle)
Coach: Julian Nagelsmann
Portugal: Costa – Dalot, A. Silva, Dias, Mendes – J. Neves, Vitinha – B. Silva, Fernandes, Leão – Ronaldo (c)
Remaining squad: Sá, R. Silva, Semedo, Veiga, Inácio, Palhinha, R. Neves, Gonçalves, Mora, Ramos Félix, Trincão, Neto, Jota, Conceição
Out: –
Coach: Roberto Martinez
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Including fixtures as West-Germany, Germany and Portugal have faced each other a total of 19 times. Of those 19 games, Germany have won 11 and Portugal three. Five games have ended in draws, with the most recent encounter taking place at Euro 2020, where Germany won 4-2.
Wizardry WirtzAlthough hampered somewhat by injuries in the second half of the campaign, Wirtz has once again shown why he is one of the hottest prospects in the world. He is now one of the faces of both the Bundesliga and the national team, and he will be hoping to demonstrate his exceptional talents once more on Wednesday. In the Nations League, he has three goals and four assists.
© THOMAS KIENZLE
Portugal’s flying full-backLike Kimmich, Portugal’s Nuno Mendes also has five assists this campaign, and despite appearing in the UEFA Champions League final on 31 May, he has still been named in the squad. Mendes has been charging up and down Paris Saint-Germain’s left flank all season, and he will no doubt be doing the same for Portugal against Germany should he be fit to play.
© IMAGO/Paul Currie/Shutterstock
Captain fantasticGermany’s captain Kimmich has had a fantastic season once again, both for Bayern Munich and Germany. His displays in the quarter-final against Italy were as good as anyone could hope for from a captain. He also sits in joint-first for tournament assists with five.
© Alex Grimm
Ronaldo Portugal’s talisman once moreWho else? Even at 40 years old, Cristiano Ronaldo is still Portugal’s star man, and he once again leads the team in goals with six. A number that has him in third overall in the competition behind Erling Haaland on seven and Viktor Gyökeres on nine.
© PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA
Germany’s top scorer misses outTim Kleindienst has been Germany’s top scorer in this season’s competition, scoring four goals, although the Gladbach striker will miss the finals through injury. The hosts do have a host of other talent available to them, though, such as Musiala, Wirtz and Undav, who all have three goals in the competition.
© IMAGO/Jerry Andre
History in the tournamentPortugal overcame the Netherlands in the inaugural 2018/19 edition of the competition in Porto, thanks to a goal from Gonçalo Guedes, but have not made the finals since. Germany, meanwhile, have reached the competition’s finals for the first time and they are the only side in the finals not to have already won the tournament.
© Dean Mouhtaropoulos
Both sides like to play with the ball rather than counter-attacking, which should make for an interesting midfield battle. They have both averaged over 58% possession so far this tournament, Germany 58.6%, Portugal 58.4%; the third and fourth best numbers in the competition.
Germany are the Nations League’s top scorers with 23 goals so far this campaign. That is four more than Sweden in second and five more than Portugal and Spain in third.
Over the course of that quarter-final, Kimmich scored one and assisted four others in what were two sensational performances.
How Germany got to the semisLike Portugal, Germany also topped their group comfortably, finishing above the Netherlands with 14 points. This set up a quarter-final against Italy, who had narrowly missed out on topping group A2 on goal difference. Germany won the first leg 2-1 in Italy after conceding early on before taking a 3-0 half-time lead in the home fixture to move ahead 5-1 on aggregate. In the second half, Italy fought back spectacularly to make it 3-3 on the night and 5-4 overall, but they were unable to find an equaliser to take the game to extra time. This result set up Wednesday’s blockbuster fixture.
© Christof Koepsel
How Portugal got to the semisPortugal dominated their Nations League group, picking up 14 points on the way to topping group A1 of the Nations League format. This earned the winners of the inaugural 2018/19 tournament a match-up against A4 runners-up Denmark. Portugal lost the first leg in Denmark 1-0 before battling back in the second leg to win 5-3 on aggregate after extra time.
© IMAGO/Valter Gouveia/SPP
The hostsBayern Munich’s Allianz Arena provides the backdrop to this semi-final, just days after hosting the UEFA Champions League final. The other Nations League semi between Spain and France takes place at VfB Stuttgart’s MHP Arena on Thursday, before the third-place playoff at the same venue next Sunday. The final will be played later that day, back at the Allianz Arena.
© DFL DEUTSCHE FUSSBALL LIGA / Matthias Hangst
A very warm welcome to our blog coverage of the UEFA Nations League semi-final between Germany and Portugal at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday, 4 June (kick-off: 9pm CEST).