Germany Women will get their Women's Euro 2025 campaign underway when they face Poland Women in St. Gallen on Friday.

DFB-Frauenteam are the record winners with eight European Championship triumphs, while Poland are set to make their tournament debut. 

Match preview

Germany made light work of the new qualifying process, which was played in the same format as the Nations League in a bid to make the games more competitive.

DFB-Frauenteam won five of their six qualifiers (L1) to finish top of a group that contained Iceland, Austria and Friday's opponents, Poland. 

They will now be looking to go a step further than they did in 2022, when they finished runners-up following a narrow defeat to England in the final at Wembley.

Despite that disappointment, Germany remains the most successful team in European Championship history, having won the competition on eight occasions, including six consecutive triumphs from 1995 to 2013.

As the world's third-ranked side, Christian Wuck's charges will be one of the favourites to win the competition and the obvious favourites to finish top of a group that includes Poland, Denmark and Sweden.

Germany will head into their tournament opener in a confident mood after winning five consecutive matches to finish top of their Nations League group, securing them a place in the final four.

In contrast to their opponents, Poland are inexperienced at this level of competition, with the 27th-ranked side set to make their first appearance at a major tournament.

Poland lost all six matches in Group A4 of European Championship qualifying, meaning they had to go through the playoffs to seal their place in Switzerland.

They eased to a 6-2 aggregate victory in their first-round clash against Romania, before they picked up two 1-0 wins against Austria to secure their passage to the finals.

Like Germany, Poland recently enjoyed a successful Nations League campaign, winning five and drawing six of their games to win promotion from League B.

Nina Patalon's side went on to record a 4-0 win in Sunday's friendly meeting with Ukraine, extending their unbeaten run to 11 matches (W10, D1).

While that run will inspire confidence, Poland will be aware of the tough test that awaits them on Friday, especially as they lost 4-1 and 3-1 in their two qualifying games against Germany last year. 

Germany Women form (all competitions):

Poland Women form (all competitions):

Team News

Manchester City’s Rebecca Knaak should partner Janina Minge in the centre of the German defence, while Giulia Gwinn and Franziska Kett could operate at right and left-back respectively.

In the final third, Bayern Munich forward Lea Schuller will be looking to score in a fourth consecutive game after netting five goals in her last three games for club and country.

Laura Freigang should operate just behind Schuller, with Jule Brand and Klara Buhl set to provide the width for Friday’s clash, although Selina Cerci is also an option to feature out wide.

As for Poland, Malgorzata Mesjasz was a late addition to the squad after Martyna Brodzik was forced to pull out due to injury.

Paulina Dudek is set to feature in central defence with Emilia Szymczak, while Klaudia Slowinska and Martyna Wiankowska are likely to operate as the two full-backs.

At the opposite end of the pitch, Ewa Pajor will undoubtedly be Poland’s main attacking threat after netting 42 competitive goals for Barcelona last season.

Germany Women possible starting lineup:

Berger; Gwinn, Minge, Knaak, Kett; Senss, Lohmann; Cerci, Freigang, Buhl; Schuller

Poland Women possible starting lineup:

Szemik; Slowinska, Szymczak, Dudek, Wiankowska; Achcinska, Pawollek, Kamczyk; Tomasiak, Kamczyk, Pajor

We say: Germany Women 3-0 Poland Women

Germany have scored 24 goals in their last five matches, and with that in mind, we think their firepower will enable them to pick up a commanding win in their tournament opener against Poland. 

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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