Fight for the World Cup ticket
As of: March 6, 2026 3:01 p.m
After the goal festival against Slovenia, things get serious for the women’s national team in the fight for the World Cup ticket: national coach Christian Wück warns against the Norwegians, who have a very special home advantage.
The O’Learys sports bar in the port city of Stavanger in southwest Norway impresses not only with its privileged location right on the water with a clear view of cruise ships arriving and departing, but also with its many large TVs showing football matches from all over the world around the clock.
Norwegian Cup with Molde against Bodo/Glimt on Thursday, the Bundesliga top game Bayern Munich against Gladbach on Friday or the English Premier League with Newcastle against Manchester City on Saturday.
However, whoever is watching the women’s international match between Norway and Germany on Saturday (6 p.m., live on ZDF and in the Full audio report at sportschau.de) if you want to look, you will be disappointed. The top game for first place in the group in this World Cup qualification will not be broadcast there.
Wück praises and warns about Norway
It might be worth it, because it’s different than last time Slovenia (5:0) Norway is likely to place a lot more demands on the DFB women. “They have good individual players and also a good mix in the team. We have to watch out for Norway’s offense because they have three outstanding players and they are also very stable in defense,” warns national coach Christian Wück in the Sportschau interview in front of the DFB team hotel just outside Stavanger.
The Norwegians’ offensive includes ex-Wolfsburg player Caroline Graham Hansen from FC Barcelona, Signe Gaupset (Tottenham Hotspur) and Lyon’s Ada Hegerberg. There is particularly great respect for Hegerberg, who was the first world footballer to be awarded the Ballon d’Or in 2018. “She is the focal point on the offensive. She also makes good use of her teammates, who come with a lot of speed,” said Wück.
DFB women with a broad squad
Some of his players also have high speed. For example, Vivien Endemann, who was called back to the national team after a year without an invitation and played a very strong game against Slovenia with a goal and two assists, so that the absence of top striker Klara Bühl due to injury was almost forgotten.
Who is allowed to attack the DFB?
“It’s good to know that we are constantly expanding the pool of players and have more and more options if a player is unavailable on the offensive,” explains the national coach, who successfully installed additional options in center forward Shekiera Martinez and debutant Larissa Mühlhaus. Nicole Anyomi or Lea Schüller could also start in the attack. “There will be one or two changes,” announced Wück, without naming names.
Artificial turf as an advantage for Norway
He sees the unfamiliar surface as a clear advantage for the hosts, who know it from home games: “It’s a different football game. The rolling behavior of the ball changes.”
“I haven’t played on artificial turf in a while, so I’m curious to see what it’s like. If the ball bounces, it’s definitely not the pitch.”
Jule Brand
At least for the players from VfL Wolfsburg and FC Bayern, the surface is not new territory. You already know him from Champions League games in Scandinavia. And so the national coach doesn’t want to look for excuses in advance. “We don’t want to make it a big issue, but we have to prepare well for it.”
10,000 fans are expected
Around 10,000 spectators are expected for the trend-setting group game. Artificial turf or not, the national coach approaches the game confidently: “The next goal is first place in the group, qualification for the World Cup.”
And the tournament in Brazil 2027 (June 24th to July 24th) will probably also be shown in the sports bar O’Learys in the port city of Stavanger.
Video:
Jule Brand – “Perform very well as a team” (1 min)
