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Germany captain Alexandra Popp can qualify for the Olympics with a win against France
Photo: Beautiful Sports / Wunderl / IMAGO / Beautiful Sports
The German women's national team will face France in the semi-finals of the Nations League. That was the result of Uefa's draw. In the second semi-final, the world champions from Spain will host the Netherlands. The matches will take place between 23 and 28 February 2024.
The final tournament will also determine two of the three European participants for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Those who make it to the final will be there – just like hosts France, who are automatically eligible. With a victory in the semi-finals, Germany is guaranteed a place at the Olympic tournament. In the event of a defeat, the German footballers will get a second chance at the Olympic starting place in the match for third place. The final match for the Nations League victory will take place in Spain or the Netherlands.
"We're very happy about the draw, even though we would have liked to play at home," said Hrubesch, who expects a difficult task: "France are a stable, well-rehearsed team that will demand a lot from us. We're not going to go into the Final Four as favorites. But if we're all healthy, it's an open game on an equal footing."
With this, the German team avoided world champion Spain at least in the semi-finals. The French women, led by Wendie Renard, are hoping for their first major title in Paris. At Euro 2022 in England, the DFB women beat France 2-0 in the semi-finals and 2-1 in the friendly in Dresden the following November - Alexandra Popp scored two goals in each case.
Most recently, the Olympics took place without German female footballers
Germany had won Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 under coach Silvia Neid, but failed to qualify for the following Games in Tokyo. They won bronze in Sydney in 2000, Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.
At the final tournament of the Nations League, Horst Hrubesch will continue to coach the runners-up of the European Champions. It remains to be seen whether the 72-year-old will also be on the sidelines at the Olympic Games if successful. If the German national team fails to qualify for Paris, the next major tournament will not take place until the summer of 2025. Then the European Championships will take place in Switzerland, with the European Qualifiers starting in April.
ast/sid/dpa