France won the bronze medal in the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League by beating Germany 2-0 in the third-place game at the MHPArena in Stuttgart. This was the first time since 2023 that Germany lost two games in a row at the Finals.
No team really wants to play for third place, but Germany tried hard. Early on, Nick Woltemade and Karim Adeyemi had chances but Mike Maignan made good saves. Lucas Digne also blocked a strong shot from Niclas Fullkrug with his head. Germany had five shots in just six minutes!
France stayed calm even though Germany was pushing hard. Loic Bade almost scored with a header, but Germany’s goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen made an amazing save just before half-time.
There was a big moment when Adeyemi went down in the box, and the referee first gave Germany a penalty. But after checking on VAR, the referee changed his mind and gave Adeyemi a yellow card for diving instead.
Germany kept trying, with Florian Wirtz hitting the post and Woltemade shooting, but Maignan stopped the shots well.
Right before half-time, France scored against the run of play. Aurelien Tchouameni crossed the ball, and Kylian Mbappe controlled it perfectly and scored past Ter Stegen.
Mbappe almost scored again right after the break, but his shot hit the side netting. Germany thought they had equalized when Deniz Undav scored, but the goal was ruled out because of a foul.
France had some more chances, like Marcus Thuram’s shot hitting the post. Ter Stegen and Mbappe kept the game exciting with great saves and shots.
Finally, six minutes before the end, Mbappe ran past tired defenders, pulled the goalkeeper out of position, and passed to Michael Olise who easily scored into an empty net.
France now have the bronze medal to go with the gold medals they won in 2020/21, while Germany still hasn’t won a trophy in this competition.
