The Germany national under-21 football team represents the under-21s of Germany in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship and is controlled by the German Football Association (DFB), the governing body of football in Germany.

Before the reunification of Germany, East Germany and West Germany played as separate entities — the two teams played separately until summer 1990. Following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976, international under-21 football in Europe began. A West German team, however, did not compete in the U-21 European Championship until the qualifying round (beginning in 1980) of the 1982 competition.

West Germany competed in the first two under-23 competitions, which finished in 1972 and 1974. The first under-21 competition finals were in 1978, and since the under-21 competition rules state that players must be 21 or under at the start of a two-year competition, technically it is an under-23 competition.

The current Germany team can be legitimately considered as the current incarnation of the West German team, since the West Germany flag, uniform, and football association all became those of the unified Germany. In effect, the West German team absorbed the East German team to become 'the Germany national under-21 football team'.

For these reasons, the record of West Germany for the U-23 and U-21 competitions is shown below.

Competitive record For the East Germany team record, look here.

1972–1990 as 1994–present as

Champions   Runners-up   Third place   Fourth place  

UEFA U-23 Championship record

UEFA European Under-23 Championship finals recordQualifications recordYearRoundPositionGP*GPWDLGFGA 1972 Quarterfinals 8th 2 0 1 1 1 3 6 5 1 0 11 1 1972 1974 did not qualify 4 2 1 1 7 3 1974 1976 did not enter did not enter 1976 Total Quarterfinals 1/3 2 0 1 1 1 3 10 7 2 1 18 4 Total

UEFA U-21 Championship record UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals recordQualifications recordYearRoundPositionGP*GPWDLGFGA 1978 did not enter did not enter 1978 1980 1980 1982 Runners-up 2nd 6 4 0 2 15 9 6 5 0 1 15 5 1982 1984 did not qualify 6 3 3 0 13 4 1984 1986 6 3 1 2 9 6 1986 1988 6 3 0 3 12 9 1988 1990 Quarterfinals 6th 2 0 1 1 2 3 6 4 2 0 10 2 1990 1992 6th 2 0 1 1 4 5 4 4 0 0 12 1 1992 1994 did not qualify 8 5 0 3 20 8 1994 1996 Quarterfinals 7th 2 0 1 1 1 4 8 6 1 1 22 5 1996 1998 5th 3 2 0 1 3 2 8 6 2 0 20 3 1998 2000 did not qualify 8 4 1 3 9 7 2000 2002 8 5 1 2 18 7 2002 2004 Group stage 6th 3 1 0 2 4 5 8 5 2 1 13 6 2004 2006 7th 3 1 0 2 1 4 12 9 3 0 27 5 2006 2007 did not qualify 4 2 0 2 8 6 2007 2009 Champions 1st 5 3 2 0 8 1 10 6 3 1 26 4 2009 2011 did not qualify 8 3 3 2 26 10 2011 2013 Group stage 6th 3 1 0 2 4 5 12 10 2 0 43 11 2013 2015 Semifinals 3rd 4 1 2 1 5 7 10 8 2 0 30 5 2015 2017 Champions 1st 5 3 1 1 8 3 10 10 0 0 35 8 2017 2019 Runners-up 2nd 5 3 1 1 15 7 10 8 1 1 33 7 2019 2021 Champions 1st 6 3 3 0 9 4 8 6 0 2 22 10 2021 2023 Group stage 15th 3 0 1 2 2 5 10 9 0 1 32 9 2023 2025 Runners-up 2nd 6 5 0 1 17 7 10 8 2 0 35 10 2025Total3 titles15/25582713*189871 186 132 29 25 500 148 Total

Individual awards Golden Player: Rudi Völler (1982) Golden Boot: Luca Waldschmidt (2019), Lukas Nmecha (2021), Nick Woltemade (2025) Silver Boot: Kevin Volland (2015) Bronze Boot: Marco Richter (2019)

EURO Under-21 dream team On 17 June 2015, UEFA revealed an all-time best XI from the previous Under-21 final tournaments.

Included players from Germany: Goal: Manuel Neuer Defence: Mats Hummels Midfield: Mesut Özil

UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

Results and fixtures

Players Current squad Players born in or after 2004 are eligible for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

The following players were called up for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying matches against Latvia, Malta and Georgia between 26 September and 6 October 2026.

Note: Names in italics denote players that have been called up to the senior team.

Caps and goals correct as of 30 September 2026, after the match against Malta.

Recent call-ups The following players have previously been called up to the Germany under-21 squad in the last 12 months and remain eligible for selection.

Past squads 1996 UEFA European Under-21 Championship 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Player records

Most caps No. of caps Player U-21 career 31 Fabian Ernst 1998–2001 30 Levin Öztunalı 2015–2019Ansgar Knauff 2021–2025 Eric Martel 2021–2025 27 Andreas Beck 2007–2009 Nicolò Tresoldi 2023–present 26 Mike Hanke 2003–2005 25 Dennis Aogo 2007–200924 Christian Tiffert 2002–2004 Daniel Schwaab 2007–2010 Lewis Holtby 2009–2013 Moritz Leitner 2011–2015 Nadiem Amiri 2016–2019

Most goals No. of goals No. of caps Player U-21 career 1821 Pierre Littbarski 1979–1982 1627 Nicolò Tresoldi 2023–present 1720 Heiko Herrlich 1990–1993 1523 Benjamin Auer 2002–2004 1426 Mike Hanke 2003–200524 Lewis Holtby 2009–201313 21 Rouwen Hennings 2007–200915 Youssoufa Moukoko 2021–18 Nick Woltemade 2023–202511 22 Kevin Volland 2012–2015

Former coaches Hannes Löhr (1990–2002) Jürgen Kohler (2002–2003) Uli Stielike (2003–2004) Dieter Eilts (2004–2008) Horst Hrubesch (2008–2009) Rainer Adrion (2009–2013) Horst Hrubesch (2013–2016) Stefan Kuntz (2016–2021) Antonio Di Salvo (2021–)

See also Germany national football team Germany national youth football team UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Notes

References

External links Site of the Under-21 national team at the German Football Association homepage