| Germany Under-21 | |
| Badge: | Deutscher_Fußball-Bund_logo.svg |
| Association: | Deutscher Fußball-Bund |
| Coach: | Antonio Di Salvo |
| Captain: | Eric Martel |
| Most Caps: | Fabian Ernst (31) |
| Top Scorer: | Pierre Littbarski (18) |
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| First Game: | U-23: West Germany 3–3 Yugoslavia (Frankfurt, West Germany; 25 June 1955) U-21:  Poland 1–0 West Germany (Toruń, Poland; 10 October 1979) |
| Largest Win: | U-23: West Germany 3–0 Turkey  (Augsburg, West Germany; 24 April 1971) U-21: 0–11 (Serravalle, San Marino; 17 November 2009) |
| Largest Loss: | U-23: Soviet Union 3–1 West Germany (Yerevan, Soviet Union; 29 April 1972) U-21: 5–0 (Olomouc, Czech Republic; 27 June 2015) |
| Uefau21champ Apps: | 14 |
| Uefau21champ First: | 1982 |
| Uefau21champ Best: | Winners (2009, 2017, 2021) |
The Germany national under-21 football team represents the under-21s of Germany in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship and is controlled by the German Football Association (DFB), the governing body of football in Germany.
Before the reunification of Germany, East Germany and West Germany played as separate entities — the two teams played separately until summer 1990. Following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976, international under-21 football in Europe began. A West German team, however, did not compete in the U-21 European Championship until the qualifying round (beginning in 1980) of the 1982 competition.
West Germany competed in the first two under-23 competitions, which finished in 1972 and 1974. The first under-21 competition finals were in 1978, and since the under-21 competition rules state that players must be 21 or under at the start of a two-year competition, technically it is an under-23 competition.
The current Germany team can be legitimately considered as the current incarnation of the West German team, since the West Germany flag, uniform, and football association all became those of the unified Germany. In effect, the West German team absorbed the East German team to become 'the Germany national under-21 football team'.
For these reasons, the record of West Germany for the U-23 and U-21 competitions is shown below.
For the East Germany team record, look here.
Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place
| UEFA European Under-23 Championship finals record | width=1% rowspan="2" | Qualifications record | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | |||||||||
| Quarterfinals | 8th | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | width=1% rowspan="3" | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 1972 | |||
| did not qualify | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 1974 | |||||||||||
| did not enter | did not enter | 1976 | ||||||||||||||||
| Total | Quarterfinals | 1/3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | width=1% | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 4 | Total | ||
| UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals record | width=1% rowspan="2" | Qualifications record | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | |||||||||
| did not enter | width=1% rowspan="24" | did not enter | 1978 | |||||||||||||||
| 1980 | 1980 | |||||||||||||||||
| Runners-up | 2nd | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 5 | 1982 | ||||
| did not qualify | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 4 | 1984 | |||||||||||
| 1986 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 1986 | |||||||||||
| 1988 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 9 | 1988 | |||||||||||
| Quarterfinals | 6th | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 1990 | ||||
| Quarterfinals | 6th | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 1992 | ||||
| did not qualify | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 8 | 1994 | |||||||||||
| Quarterfinals | 7th | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 5 | 1996 | ||||
| Quarterfinals | 5th | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 3 | 1998 | ||||
| did not qualify | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 2000 | |||||||||||
 2002 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 7 | 2002 | |||||||||||
| Group stage | 6th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 6 | 2004 | ||||
| Group stage | 7th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 27 | 5 | 2006 | ||||
| did not qualify | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 2007 | |||||||||||
| Champions | 1st | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 26 | 4 | 2009 | ||||
| did not qualify | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 26 | 10 | 2011 | |||||||||||
| Group stage | 6th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 43 | 11 | 2013 | ||||
| Semifinals | 3rd | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 5 | 2015 | ||||
| Champions | 1st | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 8 | 2017 | ||||
| Runners-up | 2nd | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 33 | 7 | 2019 | ||||
| Champions | 1st | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 10 | 2021 | ||||
| Group stage | 15th | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 32 | 9 | 2023 | ||||
| Total | 3 titles | 14/24 | 52 | 22 | 13* | 17 | 81 | 64 | width=1% | 176 | 124 | 27 | 25 | 465 | 138 | Total | ||
Included players from Germany:
See main article: 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group D.
Players born in or after 2002 are eligible for the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
The following players were called up for the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches against Kosovo and Israel on 22 and 26 March 2024.[2]
Note: Names in italics denote players that have been called up to the senior team.
Caps and goals correct as of 26 March 2024.[3]
The following players have previously been called up to the Germany under-21 squad in the last 12 months and remain eligible for selection.
| No. of caps | Player | U-21 career |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | Fabian Ernst | 1998–2001 |
| 30 | Levin Öztunalı | 2015–2019 |
| 27 | Andreas Beck | 2007–2009 |
| 26 | Mike Hanke | 2003–2005 |
| 25 | Dennis Aogo | 2007–2009 |
| 24 | Christian Tiffert | 2002–2004 |
| Daniel Schwaab | 2007–2010 | |
| Lewis Holtby | 2009–2013 | |
| Moritz Leitner | 2011–2015 | |
| Nadiem Amiri | 2016–2019 |
| No. of goals | No. of caps | Player | U-21 career |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 21 | Pierre Littbarski | 1979–1982 |
| 17 | 20 | Heiko Herrlich | 1990–1993 |
| 15 | 23 | Benjamin Auer | 2002–2004 |
| 14 | 26 | Mike Hanke | 2003–2005 |
| 24 | Lewis Holtby | 2009–2013 | |
| 13 | 21 | Rouwen Hennings | 2007–2009 |
| 11 | 22 | Kevin Volland | 2012–2015 |
| 10 | 19 | Rudi Völler | 1979–1982 |
| 22 | Christian Nerlinger | 1992–1996 | |
| 15 | Luca Waldschmidt | 2017–2019 | |
| 17 | Lukas Nmecha | 2019–2021 |