News (engl.)

The supervisory board and general assembly of the DFB GmbH & Co. KG today held a joint meeting to confirm the opponents and venues for two home games to be played by the Germany men’s national team next year. In the event of the side successfully achieving direct qualification to the upcoming FIFA World Cup, and subject to change based on the World Cup group draw on 5th December in Washington D.C., Germany will face the current Africa Cup of Nations champions Ivory Coast in Stuttgart at 20:45 CEST on 30th March 2026, before hosting Finland in Mainz on 31st May 2026, also at 20:45 CEST. 

The upcoming World Cup, set to be hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico, will take place from 11th June to 19th July 2026. Germany will begin their World Cup qualifying campaign tonight at 20:45 CEST, as they travel to Bratislava to face Slovakia. 

Strong record against Finland

The Germany national team has only faced off against Ivory Coast once before, in a friendly all the way back on 18th November 2009 that ended 2-2 in Gelsenkirchen. Meanwhile, Germany have played 23 matches in total against Finland, winning 16 in that time. The last victory came on 31st August 2016 in a game that marked the final international appearance of World Cup winner Bastian Schweinsteiger, finishing 2-0 to Germany in Mönchengladbach. Six of the games have ended in a draw, with Finland winning just once across the 23 matches.  

Further international opponents and venues for the Germany national team in the lead-up to the World Cup will be published at a later date. After next year’s World Cup, the second half of 2026 will see the start of the next UEFA Nations League season. Venues for the competition will be confirmed after the draw takes place early next year.