Did anyone here say anything about choice? In 2025 it will of course be primarily about goals, points and championships. And we already know who will win what and where. Well, well… pretty much.
Handball: Germany becomes world champion
Without competition from a men’s European Football Championship or World Cup, and without winter or summer Olympics, the upcoming handball world championships are outstanding sporting events of 2025. For women it is December, for men it is January to early February. A medal there seems possible, it would be the first since 2007, the first in 18 years!
The year 2024 has shown that it is again possible to win big games and beat big opponents. I therefore dare to predict: Germany will become world champions in Oslo on February 2nd, and the women will win bronze on December 14th in Rotterdam. It would be the perfect handball year. And it’s not a fantasy. It is possible. 2025 can be big. It’s going to be big. (Florian Naß)
The German national handball team at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Football: Arminia in the cup final
What is required is a “bold prediction”. The teams in the 2nd Bundesliga are so close together that it is hardly daring to predict that a team that is placed in the bottom half of the table after the first half of the season will be promoted. It will be called Schalke 04, but as I said, this prediction is not daring. Things look different in the DFB Cup, because there is only one third division team left in the race. But he will make it to the final in Berlin. The fact that Arminia Bielefeld eliminated 1. FC Köln in the semi-finals after Werder Bremen is a bit too “bold”, because the “Effzeh” would have to win on the other side of the Rhine in Leverkusen. But the Alm in Bielefeld will also work its magic against another Bundesliga team. Half of East Westphalia travels to the capital at the end of May. (Marcus Bark)
Ice hockey: Only the KEC will be German champions
The younger generation of German ice hockey fans may not even know this anymore. But: There was a time when winning the German ice hockey championships was celebrated in the west of our country. However, that was a long time ago. Krefeld last won the title in 2003, followed by Cologne a year earlier.
Back in 2002, the KEC had won in Mannheim, and afterwards I interviewed captain Mirko Lüdemann with the winner’s trophy on the Cologne town hall balcony. Those were my first years as a radio reporter for ARD, and my friend and mentor Eddie Body was almost always sitting next to me. Every year we hoped for, no, expected, the next title for the West, and most of the time a championship for Cologne was the most likely of all possibilities. It didn’t happen that way.
Frederik Storm (l.) and Louis-Marc Aubry celebrate after the Sharks score.
But there is great hope that the sporting misery will end. Because the KEC finally has a realistic chance again this season. With the Finnish mastermind Kari Jalonen behind the boards, with cross-border Julius Hudacek between the posts, with strong defenders, with outstanding quality in finishing and regularly sold-out home games that give more and more wings. This is the mix that champion teams are made of. Therefore: The Kölner Haie will be German champions in 2025! (Burkhard Horn)
Cycling: Takeover at the Tour de France
I have it in mind: Primoz Roglic, captain of the German team Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, is traveling to the Tour de France in third place in the Giro d’Italia. But there he stands in the shadow of Florian Lipowitz, the young German who was actually taken to study and was intended to be Roglic’s most important helper. After the Pyrenees stages, this time sections twelve to 14, where Lipowitz shines in contrast to Roglic, Roglic gets out, still exhausted from the rigors of the Giro.
Lipowitz has a clear ride and ends the tour in fifth place overall after a stage win on Mont Ventoux. Red Bull then announced that it wanted to particularly support Lipowitz in the company’s own performance center. He will also be the captain for the major national tours from 2026. (Stephan Klemm)
Florian Lipowitz on his bike at the Vuelta a Espana.
Tennis: Zverev wins first Grand Slam title
The goals of the best German tennis professional are the same every year: become number 1 in the world rankings and win a Grand Slam. In recent years, the Hamburg player failed either because he couldn’t control his nerves or because he wore himself out in the early rounds against supposedly easier opponents and lacked the strength in the semi-finals or finals. Things will be different in 2025. Zverev will end his lack of titles at the four major tournaments.
He will have the best chances at the French Open, but he can also go far in Melbourne and at the US Open. Even at Wimbledon he seems to feel more comfortable every year. His biggest competitors are Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Zverev has a positive record against both of them. But it’s also a fact that the 28-year-old doesn’t have much time left to make his dream come true. (Andreas Thies)
Alexander Zverev after the victory in Rome against Nicolas Jarry.
Basketball: A German becomes NBA champion
Dirk Nowitzki is so far the only German basketball player to win the NBA title. This will change in 2025, because no German player in recent years has had as great a chance of repeating Nowitzki’s triumph as Isaiah Hartenstein at the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The German center was awarded an $87 million contract in July, also because he is seen as the missing piece of the puzzle that should help the Thunder franchise achieve their longed-for first championship title. With his fighting spirit and rebounding strength, he gives OKC even more physicality under the basket.
Isaiah Hartenstein celebrates with his teammate Jalen Williams.
The start of the NBA Finals is scheduled for June 5, 2025. As a precaution, the US correspondents from Tagesschau, Today and RTL aktuell should keep the following weeks free: when the championship parade passes through Oklahoma City. (Christian Mixa)
Athletics: A teenager becomes the new 100-meter superstar
His name: Christian Miller. In 2024, the US junior has already run under ten seconds several times – and he only came of age in May. When he was still 17, Miller was already sprinting 9.93 seconds. For comparison: world star Noah Lyles had a best time of 10.16 seconds at the age of 18.
Miller already had to compete against him at the US trials when he only came fifth despite 9.98 seconds and so missed the ticket for the Olympic Games in Paris. The next one in 2028 should be a sure-fire success – because by then he will already be the new star over 100 meters. Christian Miller will be world champion in Tokyo in 2025. (Sebastian Hochrainer)
Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton becomes world champion in a Ferrari
One thing is already certain: the big rule revolution in the premier class of motorsport won’t come until 2026. So this year everything will remain the same, which means: If no miracles happen in the winter, McLaren will go into the new season as the favorite – with Ferrari on the neck. There are still question marks behind the performance of Mercedes and Red Bull.
That brings me to my prediction: Both Ferrari drivers are fighting for the world title with Lando Norris – and perhaps Max Verstappen. This gets on your nerves as the season progresses. And this is where Lewis Hamilton’s experience comes into play. The Brit is, alongside Verstappen, the best driver in the field. Despite difficult years, most recently in 2024, he has shown this again and again. He never lost his greed, the eighth world title and thus the sole record are motivation enough. Therefore: Lewis Hamilton becomes world champion in Ferrari’s first year and wins a title in the third different car. (Marco Schyns)
Lewis Hamilton after his last race in Abu Dhabi for Mercedes.