European U21 Championship round-up: Germany cruise to victory while Netherlands rescue point

Germany cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory against Slovenia in their opening game of the European U21 Championship courtesy of a Nick Woltemade hat-trick.

The highly-rated Stuttgart forward, who made his debut for the senior German side just earlier this month and whose stock continues to rise, found the net twice in the first-half before adding a third from the penalty spot in the 82nd minute to give his team three points in their opening match.

The 23-year-old bagged a hat-trick in Germany U21’s last outing against Spain and he maintained his lethal form in front of goal here as England’s Group B rivals ran out convincing winners.

It was the biggest margin of victory in the tournament so far and established Germany as serious contenders to take the Three Lions crown.

Nick Woltemade IMMEDIATELY puts himself at the top of the Golden Boot race with a first-match hat trick 😤#DFB #GermanFootball #GermanYNT

📸 Thomas Böcker/DFB pic.twitter.com/VesKJ8AWe8

— German Football (@DFB_Team_EN) June 12, 2025

Elsewhere, Group D got underway in thrilling fashion with Ernest Poku rescuing a point for the Netherlands deep into second-half stoppage time in their clash with Finland.

Casper Terho and Topi Keskinen gave Finland a two-goal advantage going into the break before the Oranje staged a valiant comeback after the restart.

Luciano Valente halved the deficit on the hour mark and Poku completed the revival, finding the net in the 93rd-minute to ensure both sides took a share of the spoils.

Meanwhile, Denmark got their campaign off to a winning start with a 3-2 victory over Ukraine.

Nazar Voloshyn opened the scoring after 22-minutes but the game really came to life after an hour when Clement Bischoff levelled for the Scandinavians.

Maksym Braharu restored Ukraine’s lead with 12-minutes to go but goals from William Boving and William Osula turned the tie on its head to give the Danes an important three points.

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