Germany's Nations League record as Klopp era opens in Amsterdam

The fifth UEFA Nations League campaign kicks off on Thursday 24 September as Jurgen Klopp's Germany face Xavi's Netherlands away from home.

Die Nationalmannschaft have reached the finals of the competition only once in the previous four editions. Here is a recap of Germany's performances in the UEFA Nations League so far.

Bottom of the group in the inaugural campaign

Germany were initially relegated to League B of the UEFA Nations League after the inaugural tournament. However, the revised format announced at a later date meant no team from League A lost their spot.

Joachim Low's side started the 2018/19 campaign with a goalless draw at the Allianz Arena against France. Defeats in the Netherlands and France ended their hopes of topping the group, which was the only ticket to the finals.

In their final game, Germany led the Netherlands with early goals from Timo Werner and Leroy Sane in Gelsenkirchen before conceding twice in the last five minutes. The Netherlands went all the way to the final, where they lost to Portugal, with Goncalo Guedes scoring the only goal of the first-ever Nations League showdown.

A 6-0 defeat by Spain in the decider

In the extended format of 2020/21, Germany were drawn with Spain, Switzerland and Ukraine in Group 4. They started with draws before recording their first win of the competition in Kyiv.

Low's men squandered leads in the 1-1 draws with Spain and Switzerland, including conceding a 96th-minute equaliser against the former in Stuttgart. Matthias Ginter and Leon Goretzka scored the goals in a 2-1 win over Ukraine, which was followed by a dramatic 3-3 draw against Switzerland in Koln. Werner then scored a brace as Germany entered the final matchday top of the group with another 2-1 victory against Ukraine.

Germany missed out on qualifying for the last four, however, after a shambolic performance in Seville. With future World Cup final hero Ferran Torres netting a hat-trick, Spain inflicted Germany's worst defeat in a competitive game, winning 6-0.

Once again, the winners of Germany's group failed at the last hurdle, as France beat Spain 2-1 in a memorable final.

One win from six under Hansi Flick

Like the previous two campaigns, Germany's 2022/23 edition started with a draw, as Joshua Kimmich scored the equaliser away at the then European champions Italy.

Hansi Flick's side also finished the next two games against England and Hungary by the same scoreline of 1-1, with Jonas Hofmann on target on both occasions. Werner added another brace as Germany scored five against Italy in Monchengladbach, and Kai Havertz also scored twice on the last matchday against England.

The shocking defeat to Hungary in Leipzig had already damaged their chances of progressing from the group stage for the first time. Germany scored the most goals in the group, but four of their games ended in draws as they finished behind Italy and Hungary, with bottom-placed England relegated to League B.

Hosts of the semi-finals in 2024/25

With a quarter-final round introduced in the fourth edition of the competition, Germany finally progressed from the group stage. In an unbeaten campaign, Julian Nagelsmann's troops scored three goals per game on average.

They also won the opening game of the Nations League for the first time with a 5-0 victory over Hungary. At the Johan Cruyff Arena, the stadium that hosts Thursday's fixture, Germany drew 2-2 with the Netherlands, with all four goals scored in the first 50 minutes.

Deniz Undav, a surprise omission from Klopp's first Germany squad, scored twice in the space of six minutes when they beat Bosnia and Herzegovina, before fellow Stuttgart attacker Jamie Leweling, who has also been left out by the new Bundestrainer, grabbed the only goal of the game in Munich against the Netherlands.

Germany ended the group stage with a draw in Hungary, three days after recording their biggest Nations League win over Edin Dzeko's Bosnia and Herzegovina. Tim Kleindienst's first two goals in Germany colours helped Nagelsmann's men to a 7-0 victory in Freiburg, and the Borussia Monchengladbach striker also found the net in both legs against Italy in the quarter-finals.

Despite a late scare in Dortmund, where Italy denied Germany a place in the World Cup final in 2006, Die National manshift qualified for the semi-final with a 5-4 aggregate score line.

Germany were appointed as the hosts of the final four games by UEFA, but they lost to Portugal in the semi-final and to France in the third-place play-off. Cristiano Ronaldo scored in both the semi-final and the final as Portugal became the first national team to win the competition twice.

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