Thanks to Nicoló Tresoldi, the German U21 national team still has a chance of direct qualification for the European Championship. We achieved a well-deserved 3-0 win against Northern Ireland.
Tresoldi scored from the penalty spot in the 11th minute to take the lead 1-0 and then made it 2-0 in the 41st minute. In the 90th minute, Nelson Weiper, who came on for Tresoldi, scored the final goal. This means that the DFB team remains on the heels of league leaders Greece. On Tuesday, Antonio Di Salvo’s selection has the chance to make up for the annoying 2-3 first leg defeat on October 10, 2025 away and take top spot in Group F. This will be followed by games against Latvia, Malta and Georgia until October 6, 2026.
Tresoldi then said on Pro7Maxx: “It was a nice evening, I feel very comfortable in this team. But we have to score the third goal earlier, we had enough chances.” Coach Antonio Di Salvo analyzed: “We played a good first half, and in the second half we defended well from the many long balls. Offensively, I’m not entirely satisfied because we lacked patience at times.”
Several more big chances missed
Tresoldi himself initiated the leadership against the Northern Irish in Braunschweig. The Club Brugge striker sensed a back pass that was played far too laxly and went alone to keeper Fraser Barnsley, who illegally took him off his feet. Barnsley got away with a yellow because it was clear that he wanted to play the ball – he was powerless to deal with Tresoldi’s hard-hitting penalty.
As a result, Germany could have improved with Said El Mala and captain Tom Bischof, both of whom still have hopes for the A World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. The second goal only came four minutes before the break, when Brajan Gruda hit a cross to Lukas Ullrich, who headed it for Tresoldi – who only had to head into the empty net from five meters.
Nicolo Tresoldi from Bruges already has six goals in six games in the current European Championship qualification.
Rescue act by Backhaus
On the other hand, Mio Backhaus had little impact on his goal, but he had to do a great job in the 14th minute. After a free kick, he fished Matthew Orr’s header from the right angle, but otherwise the Northern Irish offensive remained largely harmless.
At the beginning of the second round, Germany pushed vehemently for the preliminary decision. First, El Mala narrowly missed making it 3-0 with a dropkick from the half-left side. It was even closer two minutes later when Mert Kömür, who had just been substituted, unleashed a great shot from the edge of the penalty area and hit the ball against the right crossbar.
Short period of pressure for the Northern Irish
From the 55th minute onwards, the guests really put the pressure on and were on the verge of scoring twice. First, Mackenzie Kirk failed with a low shot past Backhaus, as Eoin Kenny aimed it over the crossbar from close range.
Afterwards, the Germans quickly regained their composure, and the Northern Irish also threw themselves out of rhythm with a lot of substitutions. Ten minutes before the end, a direct free kick from Cole Brannigan scored again, but Backhaus also held onto this sharply shot ball. When the Northern Irish’s strength weakened, Joker Weiper added the third goal shortly before the end, from close range he poked the ball over the line with the pike after further Ullrich preparatory work.
