Germany vs Netherlands: Under-21 EURO background, form guide, previous meetings

Old rivals Germany and the Netherlands meet in the second round of Group A games at the Sóstói Stadion in Székesfehérvár.

• While Germany have enjoyed considerable recent success in this tournament, reaching the finals in the last two editions of the competition, the Netherlands are featuring for the first time in eight years.

• Germany are the early pacesetters in Group A thanks to a 3-0 opening victory against co-hosts Hungary in which all their goals came in the final half-hour with Bote Baku scoring twice; the Netherlands drew 1-1 against Romania on Matchday 1.

Previous meetings
• Overall the teams have contested 16 U21 matches, with seven German wins and five for the Netherlands.

• The sides last met in a friendly in Offenbach am Main, Germany, on 16 November 2018, the home side running out 3-0 winners thanks to goals from Janni Serra (14 pen), Abdelhamid Sabiri (58) and substitute Törles Knöll (79).

• Justin Bijlow, Deyovaisio Zeefuik, Perr Schuurs, Dani de Wit, Ferdi Kadioglu and Justin Kluivert all started that game for the Netherlands, with Maarten Paes and Tyrell Malacia both unused substitutes.

• The most recent of the teams' five competitive U21 meetings came at the 2013 finals in Israel, Leroy Fer's 90th-minute goal giving the Netherlands a 3-2 Matchday 1 win in Petah Tikva. First-half goals from Adam Maher (24) and Georginio Wijnaldum (38) had seemingly put the Dutch in command only for Sebastian Rudy (47 pen) and Lewis Holtby (81) to bring Germany back on terms.

• That helped the Netherlands progress to the semi-finals behind Group B winners Spain, the Dutch finishing second on six points – one place and three points better off than Germany.

• West Germany beat the Netherlands home (2-0) and away (1-0) on the way to the 1990 U21 quarter-finals, where they lost to the Soviet Union over two legs; Olivier Bierhoff and Stefan Effenberg scored in the home victory in Augsburg.

• The Netherlands had come out on top in qualifying for the 1988 tournament, winning 3-1 in Venlo and 2-0 in Münster, Ron Willems (three goals) and Juul Ellerman (two) both scoring in each game. The Netherlands went on to reach the semi-finals.

• The Netherlands beat Germany 1-0 in a U19 friendly in Yerevan on 17 November 2018. Mitchel Bakker and Ludovit Reis were in the Netherlands' starting line-up with Sven Botman and Jurgen Ekkelenkamp second-half substitutes; Jonathan Burkardt came on for Germany.

• Arne Maier scored in Germany's 4-1 win against the Netherlands in the European U19 Championship elite round on 27 March 2018. Jordan Teze, Schuurs and substitutes Botman and Cody Gakpo featured for the Netherlands.

Form guide
Germany
• Champions in 2009 and 2017, Germany were runners-up to Spain in the 2019 final in Italy, going down 2-1 in Udine having finished first in Group B ahead of Denmark, Austria and Serbia before beating Romania 4-2 in the semi-finals.

• This is the ninth time Germany have qualified for an eight or 12-team final tournament. Aside from their two titles, they were semi-finalists in 2015 and quarter-finalists in 1998. They also reached the last eight in 1990, 1992 and 1996.

• As West Germany, they were runners-up to England in 1982.

• Germany have reached the semi-finals or better in each of the last three U21 EUROs, and have progressed from the group stage in four of their last five finals appearances.

• Stefan Kuntz – who has been in charge since August 2016, leading the team to that 2017 European triumph – oversaw a 2021 qualifying campaign in which Germany finished five points ahead of runners-up Belgium in Group 9 despite losing home (2-3) and away (1-4) against them. Germany won their other six matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Wales and Moldova, including the last three.

Netherlands
• The Dutch have missed out on the last three U21 EURO final tournaments; this is their first appearance since losing to Italy in the 2013 semi-finals.

• Champions in Portugal in 2006 and again on home soil 12 months later, this is the Netherlands' sixth appearance in an eight or 12-team final tournament. They also reached the two-legged semi-finals in 1988.

• In the qualifying campaign for the 2019 finals, a team coached by Erwin van de Looi – who has been in charge since May 2018 – finished second behind England in their section.

• This time round, Van de Looi oversaw a near immaculate qualifying campaign, the Dutch finishing as top scorers overall with 46 goals – nine more than any other side – and winning nine of their ten fixtures. A 2-1 defeat by Portugal in their final encounter was not enough to prevent them finishing first in Group 7, above their opponents on head-to-head record.

Links and trivia
• Netherlands coach Van de Looi made seven appearances for Stuttgarter Kickers between January and June 2000.

• Have played together:
Arne Maier & Javairô Dilrosun (Hertha Berlin 2018–20)

• Have played in Germany:
Justin Kluivert (Leipzig 2020–)
Javairô Dilrosun (Hertha Berlin 2018–)
Deyovaisio Zeefuik (Hertha Berlin 2020–)
Ludovit Reis (Osnabrück loan 2020–)

• Van de Looi's son Tom was a Groningen team-mate of Deyovaisio Zeefuik and Ludovit Reis in 2018/19.