A dream premiere and a dream goal paved the way for the German footballers to the 2027 World Cup in Brazil. Thanks to goals from debutant Marie Müller (18th minute) and Carlotta Wamser (27th), national coach Christian Wück’s team won 2-0 (2-0) against their pursuers Norway and qualified early as group winners for the first Women’s World Cup in South America. 33,425 fans in Cologne saw a strong performance from the DFB team over long stretches.
Wück showed some luck before kick-off by sending the full-backs Müller and Wamser into the starting line-up. Müller replaced captain Giulia Gwinn (shoulder surgery) on the right, was also given her number 7 – and had a dream debut. The 25-year-old from the US club Portland ventured forward early on, won many duels defensively and, on top of that, scored the all-important opening goal. Bayern stars Klara Bühl and Linda Dallmann assisted.
Wamser: Ugh at the back, yuck at the front
Wamser, who was allowed to replace Franziska Kett, who was also injured, initially found it much more difficult than Müller. Norway’s fleet-footed captain Caroline Graham Hansen left the clumsy Leverkusen player behind several times in the sprint. As clumsily and clumsily as Wamser worked in her unfamiliar position at the back left, she completed one of the shots brilliantly from the front Lea Schüller and Dallmann strongly initiated the attack. A deflected cross from Wamser hit the crossbar after the break.
Overall, the 2-0 score corresponded to the balance of power in the atmospheric Cologne stadium. Although the Wück team didn’t succeed in everything, they played with a lot of commitment, conviction and were always forward-oriented. Elisa Senß and Sjoeke Nüsken, who led the team onto the field for the first time as captain in her 58th international match, determined the rhythm in the midfield center. Bühl, Dallmann and Jule Brand had their creative moments.
Schüller celebrates his starting eleven comeback
Schüller remained goalless up front, but often went long distances. The goalscorer was back in the starting line-up for the first time since the 4-1 defeat in the European Championship group game against Sweden last summer. Frankfurt’s Nicole Anyomi had to withdraw due to injury.
Despite Wamser’s negligence, Norway rarely threatened the German goal. Keeper Ann-Katrin Berger parried away the few chances the visitors had, as if the worries she had after the abdominal injury she suffered a good three weeks ago had never happened. And once luck was on the DFB team’s side when Signe Gaupset’s goal was disallowed for offside shortly before half-time. A close and probably wrong decision.
In the end the Germans didn’t care. Ten years after the Olympic victory in Rio, for which the former heroines were honored in Cologne, it is clear that the DFB team can go on the title hunt in Brazil again. Like the 2016 Olympic final against Sweden (2-1), the World Cup final will also take place on July 25, 2027 in the legendary Maracana. The mission has begun.
