In the World Cup qualification against Norway
As of: June 4, 2026 5:33 p.m
With a win against Norway on Friday, the German women’s national team can book their ticket to the 2027 World Cup in Brazil. National coach Christian Wück can rely on goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger, who was recently injured.
“We all assume that Ann-Katrin will play,” said Wück at the press conference on Thursday. After suffering an abdominal injury two weeks ago, Berger was able to increase her training workload in the last few days up to 100 percent in the final training.
“She always gave a positive signal,” reported the national coach, who wants to complete World Cup qualification with his team on Friday evening in Cologne (8:35 p.m., live on Erste and on sportschau.de).
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Germany against Norway
“Achieve your best performance with the spectators behind you”
“We know that we can qualify straight away. And that’s how we want to go into the game. We want to give our best performance with the spectators behind us, in this really great stadium,” said Wück, “and then it will be difficult for any team to beat us.” Germany won the first leg in Norway 4-0. Over 29,000 tickets have been sold so far for the second comparison in Cologne.
Tuesday it’s against Slovenia
At least a draw is mandatory if the DFB team wants to keep its fate in its own hands on Tuesday in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana (6 p.m./ZDF). Otherwise there is a risk of a detour via the play-offs.
Without Gwinn and Kett, Wück has to rebuild the defense
He has not yet revealed how Wück will rebuild his regular defensive line-up against Norway after the many failures. Captain Giulia Gwinn and Franziska Kett are missing due to injuries, vice-captain Janina Minge is out due to a red card suspension.
On the defensive, Kathrin Hendrich (Chicago Stars) could make her comeback alongside Rebecca Knaak from English double winner Manchester City. With her 90 appearances, the 34-year-old is the player with the most international matches in the current squad.
A dream comes true for Nüsken
The DFB team will lead Sjoeke Nüsken onto the field as captain for the first time. “It’s an incredible honor to be able to stand on the pitch as captain,” said the Chelsea midfielder. “My whole family is in the stadium, we will enjoy the moment together. It’s still a little dream, but when I stand there tomorrow it will come true.”
