national team
Opponents and partners: DFB women call for the Netherlands
Germany’s Alexandra Popp warming up. photo
© Fabian Strauch/dpa
The women’s Oranje team was European champions in 2017 and two years later a World Cup finalist. For the German vice European champions, there is an important connection with the opponent beyond the test match.
Opponent and at the same time partner – in this constellation the German soccer players play against the selection of the Netherlands.
In the evening (8 p.m. / live stream on sportstudio.de) in Sittard, the team led by captain Alexandra Popp will challenge the runners-up world champions of 2019. At the level of sports policy, the German Football Association has big plans together with the associations of the Netherlands and Belgium: They want win the 2027 world championship.
“As always, when we play against the Netherlands, we know that these are duels at eye level, these are duels that are fun,” said national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg before the fourth to last international match before the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in the summer. “When we work together, it is of course important that the World Cup bid is official and that we have put together a very, very sustainable and great bid together with our border partners Belgium and the Netherlands.”
DFB President Bernd Neuendorf announced this week that the World Cup bid for 2027 would be pushed ahead massively: “We are very determined to tackle the issue well – internationally and worldwide.”
The joint application with the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) and the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) has been in preparation since 2020. In 2011, the DFB hosted its only women’s World Cup to date. The possible venues are already fixed with Dortmund, Duisburg, Düsseldorf and Cologne. The DFB must be prepared for tough competition: Brazil, the USA and South Africa have also expressed an interest. The host country is to be appointed in the second quarter of next year.