Nations League: The DFB team will face this opponent in the quarter-finals

The knockout phase of the Nations League begins. Since Germany finished the group phase as winners of group three, the DFB-Elf will now face a runner-up in League A. The draw on Friday afternoon showed that Julian Nagelsmann’s team will face Italy in the quarter-finals in March 2025.

The Italians had lost their last Nations League game against France (final score 1:3) and therefore missed out on overall victory in group two. That’s why there’s now a classic against sporting rivals Germany. The first leg will take place on March 20th in Italy and the second leg will take place three days later in Germany. The exact venues are currently unclear.

After the “sad” exit from the European Championship, which Julian Nagelsmann spoke about in sterninterview, the final round of the Nations League in June 2025 is the national coach’s next big goal. Then the successor to Spain – the reigning Nations League champion – will be determined in the semi-finals and final. If Germany were to win against Italy in the quarter-finals, they would first face the winner of the game between Denmark and Portugal.

The record against the Italians does not speak for Germany. From a DFB perspective, there were 11 wins, 12 draws and 15 defeats in a total of 38 games. From a German perspective, the last meeting between the two national teams should still provide hope. In the group phase of the 2022 Nations League, the DFB team did not get past a 1-1 draw in Italy. In the second leg, the Germans won clearly 5-2. The two teams had not met since then.