European Championship qualification
Clear victory: German U21 punishes Northern Ireland
Updated March 27, 2026 – 8:28 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Coach Antonio di Salvo’s team doesn’t have any major problems with the combative guests. A legionnaire stands out for the DFB team.
Mandatory task solved confidently: The German U21 national team clearly won their European Championship qualifier against Northern Ireland 3-0 (2-0) and now has a final against Greece next week to win the group.
Nicolò Tresoldi from FC Brugge with a brace (11th/foul penalty, 41st) and Nelson Weiper (90th) scored the goals on Friday evening.
After the mandatory victory, coach Antonio Di Salvo’s team now faces the final game for group victory in the European Championship qualification in Greece on Tuesday (from 6 p.m. in the live ticker on t-online). The Greeks won 5-0 against Malta and remain top of the group.
“It was our job to win the game. Now we want to win in Greece too,” said Di Salvo at ProSieben Maxx. With a win in Athens against the league leaders, the German youth national team would take top spot in the qualifying group.
There were no doubts about success against Northern Ireland in front of 10,391 spectators in Braunschweig. With his two goals, Tresoldi quickly steered the game in the direction Di Salvo had hoped for. “I’m happy I did two things,” Tresoldi said. Mainz joker Nelson Weiper scored the final point to make it 3-0 (90th).
The Northern Irish, who were very deep, invited the German team to score their first goal. A back pass from Shea Kearney fell short. Tresoldi grabbed the ball and went down as he rounded goalkeeper Fraser Barnsley. With the subsequent penalty, the keeper suspected the corner, but the FC Brugge striker’s ball was too placed. At 2-0, Tresoldi was the beneficiary after heading a high ball. Not far from his long-time football home of Hanover, the 21-year-old scored big goals 11 and 12 in his 23rd international match for the U21s.
After the break, Augsburg substitute Mert Kömür, who was an invigorating factor in the German offensive game, hit the crossbar (49th). Northern Ireland didn’t give up and could have reduced the score to 1:2. “We knew from the first leg what to expect,” said Cologne’s Said El Mala, who tried a lot but didn’t have the big moment.
After last year’s 2-3 defeat against the Greeks, the German selection is under great pressure in the European Championship qualification. In addition to the two hosts, the nine group winners and the best runner-up in the group will qualify for next year’s finals in Albania and Serbia. The eight remaining group runners-up will compete in play-offs to determine the final four participants in the final round.
