Klara Bühl scored a late goal to give Germany a 1-0 win against France in the first leg of the women’s Nations League semi-finals on Friday in Dusseldorf.
Bühl received the ball on the left in a well-worked counterattack, had plenty of space to rush to the edge of the box and fire a stunner from distance in the 79th minute to break the deadlock.
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“The victory here feels incredibly good and also the way we played, we played football the way we wanted to. We can be incredibly proud of the team. Very, very strong match, I think the fans have noticed it,” Bühl told broadcaster ARD.
The second leg in Caen is on Tuesday and the winner of the tie will face either title holders Spain or Sweden.
“Of course we have the advantage, but we know we will have to work hard in France,” the goalscorer said.
Defending champions Spain thrashed Sweden 4-0 in the first leg match thanks to braces from Alexia Putellas and Claudia Pina.
Germany had the return of captain Giulia Gwinn, who suffered a knee injury in the opening match at Euro 2025 in July where the team reached the semi-finals, beating France on penalties in the quarter-finals.
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“It was amazing, I had a lot of fun. I have to say that I was a bit emotional. It was a great game from us, the only thing we lacked was the efficiency (in front of the goal),” Gwinn said.
Coach Christian Wück added: “I was extremely annoyed that we didn’t reward ourselves. The 1-0 was deserved, but not enough.”
Wück was without Bayern Munich midfielder Lena Oberdorf. She was also set for a comeback to the national team, but ruptured the cruciate ligament in her right knee for the second time in 15 months ahead of the match.
Germany’s Klara Buehl (2nd R) celebrates scoring her side’s first goal with teammates during the UEFA Women’s Nations League semi-final, first leg, soccer match between Germany and France at the Merkur Spiel-Arena. Marius Becker/dpa