Team news and predicted lineups

Germany U21 will host Belgium in Essen in their last home game of the year.

Antonio Di Salvo’s Germany U21 side entertain Belgium in a friendly game on Friday as both sides already booked their places for next summer’s European championship. After their last home game of 2026, Germany will face Croatia in Rijeka four days later in another friendly.

The three-time Euros winners finished ahead of Greece in their qualifying group after eight successive wins. Belgium only needed a point against Denmark in the last matchday to finish top of their group, and they achieved that with a goalless draw in Vejle.

Germany’s last success in the U21 Euros came in 2021, but they lost both home and away to Belgium during the qualifying campaign for the tournament hosted by Hungary and Slovenia. Loïs Openda, who later played at RB Leipzig, scored three goals in those two games.

For the captain Nicolo Tresoldi, the final two games of the year could be his last at this level. The striker who scored 16 goals in 27 appearances is yet to make his decision on representing either Germany or his birth country Italy at senior level. The sought-after Club Brugge youngster only trails Heiko Herrlich (17) and Pierre Littbarski (18) in the all-time scoring list for Germany U21.

The former won Bundesliga and Champions League with Borussia Dortmund, while the wing wizard Littbarski played a key role when West Germany won the World Cup in 1990. Tresoldi already showed his potential as he scored 18 goals for club and country since the start of the season, including five in four Champions League games.

Di Salvo has to find solutions for several injury absentees as HSV’s Kofi Amoako and Maurice Krattenmacher, who could return to FC Bayern after his excellent start to the season with Elversberg, are set to make their U21 debuts. Both players regularly featured for their clubs so far in the Bundesliga.

In addition to Tresoldi, AS Monaco’s Paris Brunner and Dženan Pejčinović will hope to continue their good forms for Germany U21 in front of goal. However, the latter is yet to score his maiden Bundesliga goal for VfB Stuttgart.

Former Kaiserslautern striker Normann Bassette, who is the joint-Belgian Pro League top-scorer alongside Tresoldi, scored five times for Belgium during the Euros qualification campaign. 

Hoffenheim’s highly-rated attacker Nathan De Cat is unavailable due to injury, but Samuel Mbangula will be back to Germany after his unsuccessful season at Werder Bremen. Former BVB winger Julien Duranville also returns to Belgium U21 squad after making his first few appearances for Lyon.

Predicted Lineups

Germany: Backhaus; Baum, Collins, Quarshie, Behrens; Aseko, Damar; Kade, Pejcinovic, Brunner; Tresoldi ©

Belgium: Brughmans; Burlet, Smets ©, Noubi, De Roeve; Mbangula, Van De Peere, Fernandez, Fofana; Vermant, Bassette