U17 plays for the World Cup title
RTL shows the historic final of the DFB team
November 29, 2023, 5:20 p.m
The German U17 national soccer team will play for the World Cup title next weekend – as the first DFB youth team in 36 years. The final, which is historic from a German perspective, will also be shown on free TV.
Next Saturday, for the first time ever, a German U17 national soccer team will fight for the world championship title – and RTL will be joining the World Cup broadcast at short notice for the big climax. The station will show the final of the DFB team against France on December 2nd from 1 p.m. with presenter Florian König and commentators Marco Hagemann and Steffen Freund.
The German team made it to the final in Surakarta, Indonesia, with a dramatic victory over Argentina: The South Americans only equalized 3-3 deep into stoppage time, and in the subsequent penalty shootout Konstantin Heide became the match winner. The goalkeeper saved two of Argentina’s attempts, and captain Paris Brunner then shot his team into the final. The final is the new edition of the European Championship final from July. Back then, the DFB juniors won the title after a penalty shootout.
The U17 is only the fourth German U-team in a World Cup final. The U20 team lost in 1987, as did the U16 team two years earlier. The U20 team won their only youth title to date in 1981 with players like Rüdiger Vollborn, Michael Zorc, Ralf Loose and Roland Wohlfarth.
Over the course of the tournament, the team’s players had become the target of racist comments; a large number of hate comments collected on social media under a picture of captain Paris Brunner and his Dortmund club colleagues Charles Herrmann and Almugera Kabar as well as Fayssal Harchaoui (1. FC Köln). Number. This is another reason why this year’s path to the final is an extraordinary one.
“This is a great honor”
“The boys give their hearts to our country, they were all born in Germany, they are all proud to be able to play with the eagle on their chest. It’s a really big honor, and that’s exactly what you notice,” said U17 national coach Christian Wück – and sent a clear signal towards racist social media users. “We won’t be able to prevent racist comments from a few idiots, unfortunately they happen all over the world. I think Germany is now very proud of the team,” said Wück after the semi-final win against Argentina.
German football celebrities are also excited about the DFB juniors: “We hope that they take the final step and reward themselves with the title,” said Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel. Hans-Joachim Watzke also congratulated the U17s. “These are exactly the stories that German football needs! My big compliment goes to the team and the coaching staff. What they have achieved is simply great,” said the 1st Vice President of the German Football Association. “It was very emotional, very exciting, and I am extremely happy that we reached the final,” said the 64-year-old.