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The Germany national team have arranged friendlies with Japan and FIFA World Cup runners-up France as they continue preparations for the home UEFA European Championship in 2024. The two matches will take place in Wolfsburg and then Dortmund in September. A trip to the United States, co-hosts of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, then follows in the October break, with Hansi Flick’s side set to take on the USMNT and one other opponent to be confirmed.
The meeting with four-time Asian champions, Japan, Germany’s recent opening opposition at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, will take place on September 9 (20:45 CEST) at the Volkswagen Arena in Wolfsburg. The game against two-time world and two-time European champions, France, is three days later on September 12 (21:00 CEST) in Dortmund, one of Germany’s ten host venues for UEFA EURO 2024. The following month, the DFB-Team will take on the USA in Hartford, Connecticut, on October 14 (21:00 CEST). Another friendly will also be arranged for the trip to the States, who are hosing the next FIFA World Cup in June and July 2026 together with Canada and Mexico.
Head coach Hansi Flick said: “These games against Japan and France are real highlights for me as we prepare for the European Championship as a home nation. As World Cup runners-up in 2022 and winners in 2018, France are one of the big favourites to win the Euros. We’re looking forward to playing in what I’m sure will be a special backdrop in Dortmund. Japan will provide yet another very tough opponent, something we know all too well from the World Cup. Then we will come up against another highly motivated side in the USA, who are building up to hosting the World Cup. That match is sure to be an exciting challenge both on the pitch and in terms of the atmosphere in the stadium.”
DFB sporting director Rudi Völler added: “Following our two very interesting home friendlies against France and Japan, it’s important to establish a presence in the United States looking ahead to the World Cup, to hold talks and make connections. Even though we’re really looking forward the home Euros next year, which are at the forefront of our planning, it’s part of a professional approach to our preparations to look at the following tournament in good time to ensure we have the best possible conditions there when it rolls around.”
The Germany national team’s most recent meeting with Japan was at last November’s FIFA World Cup group opener, which ended in a 1-2 defeat. The other two clashes have produced one win and one draw. The DFB-Team have faced France 32 times to date, most recently again to kick off a tournament, with Les Blues winning 1-0 in our EURO 2020 Group F opener in Munich in June 2021. The head-to-head record stands at nine Germany wins, eight draws and 15 French victories.
There have been eleven previous match-ups with the USA, with the last one ending in a 1-2 defeat in Cologne in June 2015. Overall, Germany have seven wins to their name compared to America’s four.
Next up for Germany, however, is their milestone 1,000th international fixture, which will see them take on Ukraine in Bremen on June 12 (18:00 CEST). A meeting with Poland in Warsaw follows on June 16 (20:45 CEST), before they end the season with one final friendly against Colombia in Gelsenkirchen, another EURO 2024 host venue, on June 20 (20:45 CEST).
