Germany national under-21 football team

The Germany national under-21 football team represents the under-21s of Germany in the UEFA European Under-21 Football 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 🇩🇪 germany

Champions  Runners-up   Third place   Fourth place

Individual awards

 * Golden Player: Rudi Völler (1982)
 * Golden Boot: Luca Waldschmidt (2019), Lukas Nmecha (2021)
 * Silver Boot: Kevin Volland (2015)
 * Bronze Boot: Marco Richter (2019)

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

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

Current squad
Players born in or after 2002 are eligible for the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

The following players were called up for the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches against Kosovo and Israel on 22 and 26 March 2024.

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


 * Caps and goals correct as of 26 March 2024.

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


 * Most goals

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–)