France punish wasteful Germany to claim Nations League third place | OneFootball

After an underwhelming 1-2 semi-final defeat to Portugal earlier this week, Germany looked to finish their UEFA Nations League campaign on a positive note as they faced France in Sunday’s third-place clash in Stuttgart.

Ahead of the game, Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann emphasized the need for his team to be more aggressive and more composed in possession than they were against Portugal - and he had every reason to be pleased with how his side started.

Nick Woltemade nearly opened the scoring within minutes, linking up well with Niclas Füllkrug, but the Stuttgart forward's shot was straight at Mike Maignan.

Shortly after, Karim Adeyemi also tested the French goalkeeper, cutting inside sharply after being played in behind, but Maignan was once again equal to the effort. Encouraging early signs from Germany, who should have taken the lead.

France’s first real threat came around the 20-minute mark when Rayan Cherki cheekily finished through the legs of David Raum and forced Marc-André ter Stegen into a save. The German keeper was called into action again moments later, producing a full-stretch stop to deny Loïc Badé's header.

Adeyemi continued to be a menace with his runs in behind and forced another save from Maignan in the 23rd minute. Just past the half-hour mark, Germany thought they had a penalty when Adeyemi went down under a challenge from Maignan, but after a VAR review, the decision was overturned and Adeyemi was booked for simulation.

Germany continued to create chances, and in the 36th minute, Florian Wirtz was unlucky to hit the post after a slick passing move in the final third. Minutes later, Nick Woltemade had a clever finish denied once again by the alert Maignan.

Then, just before the break - and very much against the run of play -France landed the first blow. Kylian Mbappé produced a moment of brilliance, receiving the ball in the box, taking a sharp touch past Joshua Kimmich, and rifling a shot that Marc-André ter Stegen could only get a hand to - 1–0 to France.

Mbappé looked to double France’s lead shortly after the restart, breaking away on the counter, but his low effort fizzed just wide of the near post.

Germany made a half-time substitution, with Deniz Undav replacing Nick Woltemade, and the new man thought he had made an instant impact in the 52nd minute. However, his goal was chalked off after the referee spotted a foul by Niclas Füllkrug on Adrien Rabiot in the lead-up.

France continued to pose a threat on the counter, with both Rayan Cherki and Marcus Thuram testing the German defence. Thuram came especially close in the 58th minute, rattling the post with a powerful effort.

Les Bleus found space on the break once more in the 70th minute, when substitute Michael Olise picked out Thuram in the box - but ter Stegen came up big to keep Germany in the match.

Ter Stegen was called into action again, denying an acrobatic effort from Mbappé as well as another powerful strike from the Real Madrid star following a swift French counterattack.

Germany’s hopes were finally dashed in the 83rd minute. A mistake from Robin Koch allowed Mbappé to break free once more, and the French captain squared the ball to Olise, who made no mistake in making it 2–0 and sealing third place for France.