Germany to the World Cup is like summer to Europe — it’s coming, and everyone knows it’s going to be intense. On Sunday evening at the MEWA Arena in Mainz, Julian Nagelsmann’s side gave the watching world a very clear message: the Nationalelf are locked in, fired up, and absolutely ready. A ruthless 4-0 demolition of Finland — their eighth consecutive win — sent Germany into their final pre-tournament preparations with serious momentum. And the only cloud on an otherwise perfect evening? A worrying injury to their unlikely star of the night.
A Statement of Intent
Without Kai Havertz — who was still coming down from the high of the Champions League final with Arsenal in Budapest the night before — Nagelsmann handed Deniz Undav the centre-forward role. The Stuttgart striker grabbed the opportunity with both hands and absolutely ran with it.
Germany dominated from the first whistle. Undav was denied twice by Finland goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky in the opening exchanges, and Florian Wirtz fired narrowly wide just before the break. But Germany’s pressure finally told in the 34th minute. Lennart Karl played a corner short to Joshua Kimmich, whose cross to the far post found Undav creeping in to steer home a composed stooping header. One-nil, and it was thoroughly deserved.
Finland, ranked 73rd in the world and without a World Cup to look forward to, did their best — but this was always going to be a long night for Jacob Friis’s men.
Second Half, No Mercy
Germany came out after the break the same way they went in — relentlessly. Just three minutes into the second half, Finland goalkeeper Ville Koski was criminally slow to deal with a goal kick. Undav pounced on the loose ball immediately and rolled it square to a waiting Florian Wirtz, who tapped home from close range. Simple. Clinical. Very Germany.
Then Undav grabbed his brace. Teenager Lennart Karl — starting for the very first time in a Germany shirt — fed the striker with a slick through ball, and Undav held off his marker and slotted home on 57 minutes. His fifth and sixth goals in his last eight international appearances. Remarkable.
But celebrations immediately turned to concern. Undav appeared to injure himself in the act of scoring and was subsequently replaced, going straight down the tunnel as Maximilian Beier came on. With the World Cup just two weeks away, Germany will be holding their breath.
Musiala’s Return Is the Real Story
Jamal Musiala, playing his first Germany match since March 2025 after missing much of the season with a broken leg, scored on his return. And what a way to come back. Four minutes after Undav limped off, Aleksandar Pavlović fed Musiala on the edge of the area and the Bayern Munich magician absolutely rifled it into the top-left corner with his left foot. Pure class.
“I hope it was fun for everyone — it was for me,” Musiala beamed post-match. “It’ll do me good. I haven’t scored for a while.”
Welcome back, Jamal.
The Big Picture
Germany extended their winning streak to eight games. Wirtz was dangerous all night. Lennart Karl, 18, looked the real deal on his debut start. And a midfield trio of Karl, Musiala and Wirtz behind a striker has Nagelsmann fans genuinely buzzing.
Nagelsmann’s men will face the United States in their final pre-tournament friendly in Chicago on June 6, before opening their World Cup campaign against Curaçao on June 14 in Houston.
One more tune-up. Then the real thing begins.
Germany look very, very dangerous. Consider yourself warned. 🇩🇪
