France and Germany have a long footballing history, but it has been the Germans who have always had the upper hand in recent years in the women’s game.
Saturday’s highly anticipated Euro 2025 quarterfinal in Basel is the latest chapter between two old enemies. France were winless against their neighbors in their past five games in major competitions until February 2024, when Les Bleues won 2-1 in the UEFA Nations League semifinals in Lyon. Beyond that, Germany have been dominant. At club level, their teams won nine of the first 14 UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) trophies from 2001 (with Turbine Potsdam, FFC Frankfurt and Vfl Wolfsburg among the winners); and the national side picked up six straight European Championships from 1995 to 2013, as well as two World Cups in 2003 and 2007.
Only in recent years, with the rise of OL Lyonnes (who won eight of the 12 UWCL tournaments from 2010 to 2022), have France managed to close the gap domestically. But they have never won anything at international level — not even close and more often than not, it’s Germany who spoil the French party. In the past 11 meetings dating back to 2005, Germany have won seven, France two and two draws. There is a French expression for it: bête noire. Basically, Germany are France’s bogey team.
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In general, most of their meetings have come before the latter stages of tournaments. France’s competitive record has seen them fail to make it past the quarterfinals in every competition they have qualified for since 1997, except for the 2011 World Cup.
But even when they did, to reach the semifinals of Euro 2022, they met Germany again. France were drawing 1-1 with 15 minutes to go before Alexandra Popp burst their bubble with her second of the game to send Les Bleues home unhappy again.
So what is different in 2025?
For one, France are something of a blank canvas. With a new head coach (Laurent Bonadei) who has only been in charge for a few months, the team is a work in progress. They have moved on from the veterans — notably captain Wendie Renard and all-time leading goal scorer Eugénie Le Sommer — and the squad are now reliant on players who are just hitting their peak, such as Sandy Baltimore (25), Marie-Antoinette Katoto (26), Delphine Cascarino (28) and Grace Geyoro (28).
The team won all three games in the group stage — with a fine performance in the first game vs. England, and a second-half salvo vs. Netherlands — so they are well-placed to put one past their rivals given that confidence is high in the camp. Germany haven’t looked great so far, especially in their heavy defeat against Sweden, and are in something of a transition after so many years of success.
Germany might still have a psychological advantage because they are more used to winning big games, particularly against France, but Bonadei is doing a lot of mental work with his players, and it seems to be working.
“I don’t think this is true,” new captain Griedge Mbock Bathy said this week. “We don’t fear them, and we will play our game. It was big for us to beat them in that February match [the Nations League win]; we don’t have any inferiority complex. We have ambitions, we know where we want to go and how to get there.”
The players are mostly relaxing in their downtime by playing card games: mainly big Uno matches with a lot of passion. The older players play belote (a French card game) and the darts board is very popular too, with Mbock showing her skills. She even beat her coach!
But Bonadei won’t care. Germany is a special game for him, too. While he will want to secure passage to another semifinal in the Euros — the two teams also meet in the two-legged Nations League semifinals in October, for the chance to play either Sweden or Spain — so it is a perfect chance to test their level.
“It is a first set before our Nations League double header,” he said. “We will approach this game with the confidence that we have and entertain our supporters. France vs. Germany brings me back to teenage memories, not very good ones like in 1982 [when the France men’s team lost in the World Cup semifinal against West Germany on penalties, having led 3-1 before conceding two late goals]. If some sense of revenge can stimulate us it is not too bad.”
Both sets of players know each other so well; most of them have played together in international youth football or at club level. There are certainly no secrets between the two teams; they know each other so well and exactly how the other will play. But, for the first time in a long time, the momentum is with France.
If Les Bleues can finally beat their quarterfinal curse and seal progress to a semifinal vs. Spain or Switzerland, it would be special. To do it against Germany would be even more so.
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