Euro 2024: What went wrong for Julian Nagelsmann's Germany?

Germany failed to make the semifinals of Euro 2024.

Julian Nagelsmann’s Germany has crashed out of Euro 2024 after a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Spain in the quarterfinals at the Stuttgart Arena.

After an evenly poised first half that saw an end-to-end battle between the two record European championship winners (3 titles each), it was Spain who eventually broke the deadlock early into the second half as substitute Dani Olmo, who had replaced the injured Pedri in the opening minutes of the match, found the back of the net in the 50th minute to give them a crucial 1-0 lead.

After several missed opportunities, Die Mannschaft managed to equalise in the dying minutes of the game courtesy of a special goal in the 89th minute by Bayer Leverkusen wonder kid Florian Wirtz to revive the German hopes.

However, it was La Roja that enjoyed the last laugh in the feisty encounter, as super sub Mikel Merino popped up with the match-winning goal in the 119th minute to put a dagger into the wishful hearts of the German faithful.

With this thrilling 2-1 win, Luis de la Fuente’s Spain booked their place in the semifinals of Euro 2024, where they are set to face France, who are coming on the back of a nerve-wracking penalty shootout win (5-3) over Portugal.

On the other hand, host Germany had the worst possible ending to their dream of winning their home Euros in front of their fans.

Also read: What went wrong for Portugal in the Euro 2024?

Prior to the quarterfinal stage, Germany had finished the group stages as Group A table toppers with an unbeaten record, comfortably defeating the likes of Scotland and Hungary and having a stalemate affair with Switzerland. This was followed by a solid 2-0 win against Denmark in the round of 16.

After their quarterfinal exit from Euro 2024, coach Julian Nagelsmann revealed that he told his players that they were the better team overall and were massively unfortunate to exit the competition.

Lack of Clinical Finishing and missed opportunities

One of the biggest problems that curbed favourites Germany throughout the competition was their lack of clinical display in front of goal. Despite dominating proceedings in almost all matches, Germany failed to completely capitalise on their plethora of goal-scoring opportunities, as their lack of ruthlessness in the final third came back to haunt them in their last-minute defeat to Spain in the quarterfinals.

After a strong start to their home tournament that saw them score a staggering seven goals in their opening two games, the consistent flow of goals dried up.

Overreliance on young talent

The overreliance on the talented young duo of Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz, coupled with striker Kai Havertz’s constant failure to convert golden chances created by the magical midfield into fruitful outputs, ultimately cost Die Mannschaft their dream of winning a record fourth Euro in front of their fans.

This disheartening Euro 2024 exit stung the whole of Germany even more, as legend Toni Kroos officially retired from football, with the 2-1 loss against Spain serving as the final ever match of his illustrious professional playing career.

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