The German starting eleven in the opening match of the home European Championship was comparatively old, but the goalscorers were very young. First and foremost Florian Wirtz, who also broke a Bayern streak
Bundest coach Julian Nagelsmann fielded the oldest German starting eleven at a tournament in 24 years in the opening match of the home European Championship. Manuel Neuer, Toni Kroos and co. are 28.7 years old on average – the last time a starting line-up was older was at EURO 2000, when Lothar Matthäus led a team that was 29.8 years old on average at the start against Romania (1-1).
However, the scorers of the 1-0 and 2-0 goals are both just 21 years old: Jamal Musiala 21 years and 109 days, Florian Wirtz 21 years and 42 days. The Leverkusen player thus replaced Kai Havertz as Germany’s youngest European Championship goalscorer, who also scored against Portugal (4:2) in Munich in 2021 at the age of 22 years and eight days. He also got on the scoresheet against Scotland – he converted a penalty to make it 3:0.
The youngest ever European Championship goalscorer is Switzerland’s Johan Vonlanthen, who was 18 years and 141 days old when he scored against France at Euro 2004.
Wirtz breaks Bayern’s streak
Wirtz also broke a 50-year streak with his opening goal in the European Championship opener against Scotland (10th). The Leverkusen native is the first non-Munich player to score the first German goal in the DFB team’s opening match at a home tournament.
At the 1974 World Cup, Bayern’s Paul Breitner scored with a Sunday shot to win 1-0 against Chile. At the 1988 EURO, Andreas Brehme scored a free-kick against Italy to make the final score 1:1. And in 2006, it was Philipp Lahm who kicked off the summer fairytale with a 4-2 win over Costa Rica, also in Munich. Joshua Kimmich delivered the low cross from the right
Nagelsmann youngest European Championship coach in history
Nagelsmann also wrote a small chapter in European Championship history with the kick-off. The youngest national coach in the tournament’s history is now also the youngest coach ever to have coached a team at a EURO.
Nagelsmann is 36 years and 327 days old, six days younger than the previous record-breaking coach Srecko Katanec. The former Bundesliga professional from VfB Stuttgart was in charge of Slovenia in their EURO 2000 opener against Yugoslavia (3:3) in Charleroi, Belgium.
The youngest coach of a European champion to date is Jose Villalonga, who led Spain to the title in 1964 at the age of 44 years and 192 days. The oldest coach of a champion was also a Spaniard: Luis Aragones when his team won in 2008 (69 years, 337 days). The oldest ever European Championship coach is Giovanni Trapattoni, who sat on the bench for Ireland in 2012 at the age of 73.
