DFB does it official
EM-out for DFB captain Giulia Gwinn
Updated on July 5th, 2025 – 3:58 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
Germany wins against Poland at the start of the European Championship in Switzerland. However, nobody can look forward to it – because the victory was bought expensive.
Captain Giulia Gwinn will lack the German national team for the rest of the European Championship – but after initial investigations, it has not suffered a cruciate ligament tear. The 26-year-old from FC Bayern had contracted an inner ligament injury in the left knee in the first half when the opening victory against Poland in St. Gallen, the DFB said.
“The downtime is expected to be several weeks.
After the game, teammates Christian Wück feared that Gwinn has suffered a cruciate ligament injury for the third time. The Munich native broke the right cruciate ligament in September 2020 in the European Championships against Ireland against Ireland and in DFB training in October 2022. That is why she also missed the 2023 World Cup in Australia.
In the 2-0 against Poland in St. Gallen, Gwinn injured herself in the 36th minute when she twisted her knee during a rescue operation in her own penalty area with Poland striker Ewa Pajor. The right -back left the lawn under tears after she had first returned to the field, but then sank back to the ground.
Germany has to play the other preliminary round against Denmark on Tuesday (6 p.m. in the live ticker at T-Online) and on July 12th (9pm in the live ticker at T-Online) against Sweden without its star player. This also applies to the possible K.-O. games. Gwinn had led the DFB women in St. Gallen on the pitch for the first time at a tournament. Alexandra Popp’s successor is considered the most popular player in the DFB selection.
Gwinn “prevented an almost safe goal with this action,” said Wück about the unfortunate duel with Pajor. “That’s why it is just incredibly bad for us if it really should be something worse.” Players like goal scorer Jule Brand spoke of a “shock”.
Gwinn is the second serious failure for the Olympic thirds of 2024 and eight times European champions. After a cruciate ligament rupture, her Bayern colleague Lena Oberdorf had no longer made it into the European Championship squad in time. A post-nomination for the DFB in Switzerland is excluded, since due to the UEFA regulations, a field player may only be replaced up to 24 hours before the first match day for medical reasons.