Germany: Julian Nagelsmann highlights the flaws despite the win over Ghana

Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann admitted his team had been too hasty against Ghana in Monday night’s friendly in Stuttgart. A late goal from Deniz Undav allowed the Mannschaft to beat the Black Stars 2-1 and claim a second consecutive win during this March international break, after a spectacular opening victory over Switzerland (4-3).

Despite this latest win, Julian Nagelsmann pointed to a lack of control in certain phases of the match. “From our point of view, the match actually started very well. If we had stayed tactically disciplined, everything would have been simpler. Unfortunately, the urge to score quickly made us lose our patience,” he said after the game. The German coach believes that this haste threw his team off balance: “We left too much space, which made us vulnerable on the counterattack,” he continued.

During the match, Florian Wirtz had found the net, only to see his goal ruled out by VAR for an offside position by Nick Woltemade. “We should have led by a wider margin at half-time. In my view, we put in a better performance than against Switzerland,” Nagelsmann added, while calling on his team for greater rigour: “We sometimes make things harder for ourselves. Scoring is important, but not conceding is just as important. Their equaliser came far too easily.” Drawn in Group E of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Germany will face Côte d’Ivoire, Curaçao and Ecuador.