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From a Wembley win to fulfilled European Championship dreams
SVW PLAYERS RETURN FROM INTERNATIONAL DUTY FULL OF CONFIDENCE
01/04/26 | 4 Min
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The last of Werder’s players away with their national teams are expected back on the Weser over the course of Wednesday. More than a few of them will be returning to Bremen with a real boost in confidence. While Werder’s players with their senior national sides all won their matches, one U19 duo saw their EURO dream come true.
Patrice Čović and Croatia’s U19s gave themselves the perfect platform for their decisive showdown with France for a place at the European Championship thanks to opening wins over Switzerland (4-1) and Norway (1-0). While France saw plenty of the ball, the Croatians defended with real passion and looked to hit on the counter. “We threw ourselves into every challenge and you could see how much the game meant to us,” said Čović. “We ran ourselves into the ground and got our reward.”
After France drew level, Croatia dug in to see out the 1-1 draw. Thanks to those two opening wins, the point was enough to seal their place at this summer’s tournament in Wales (28/06–11/07/2026). “It feels really, really good – I’m over the moon that we’ve qualified for the European Championship,” added Čović. “The tournament in Wales will be a huge occasion for all of us because we’ll be up against the best players in our age group there.”
Germany could now be one of Croatia’s opponents there. Mick Schmetgens was on the pitch until the final whistle in Germany’s decisive 3-2 win over Austria, and the relief in Christian Wörns’ side was plain to see. After Hamburger SV’s Otto Stange and VfL Bochum’s Francis Onyeka had fired Germany into a comfortable 3-0 lead, Schmetgens and Co. were left hanging on through eight minutes of stoppage time.
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Alongside Mick Schmetgens and Wesley Adeh, who is sidelined with a torn ankle ligament, Karim Coulibaly is the third Werder player in Germany’s U19 set-up. For this international break, however, he had been moved up to the U21s, though he did not feature in their 2-0 win over Greece. Goalkeeper Mio Backhaus, meanwhile, laid the foundations for that victory with four saves, as Antonio Di Salvo’s side moved above Greece and now top their European Championship qualifying group on goal difference. Stefan Smarkalev was not in the squad for Bulgaria U21s’ 0-0 draw with Azerbaijan, while Salim Musah made his first start for Germany’s U20s in their 1-0 win over Poland.
Werder’s three players with their senior national teams also rounded off their run of friendlies in winning fashion. Yukinari Sugawara came off the bench for the final ten minutes as Japan beat England 1-0 at Wembley, while Werder captain Marco Friedl once again started in Austria’s 1-0 win over South Korea. Romano Schmid came on in the 78th minute to earn his 33rd cap for Austria.
At the World Cup in the USA, Austria will face Jordan, reigning champions Argentina and Algeria as they look to progress. Japan will first come up against the Netherlands and Tunisia. With Sweden beating Poland 3-2 in a play-off final on Tuesday evening, the Scandinavians have become the third opponents for Sugawara and his fellow countrymen.
International duty at a glance
Date/Time | Home team | Away team | Werder player(s) | Result |
Wed, 25/03, 12:00 CET | Croatia U19 | Switzerland U19 | Čović | 4-1 |
Wed, 25/03, 18:00 CET | Germany U19 | Sweden U19 | Schmetgens | 2-2 |
Thur, 26/03, 16:45 CET | Germany U20 | Czechia U20 | Musah | 2-1 |
Fri, 27/03, 18:00 CET | Austria | Ghana | Friedl, Schmid & Wöber | 5-1 |
~ | Germany U21 | Northern Ireland U21 | Backhaus & Coulibaly | 3-0 |
Fri, 27/03, 19:00 CET | Gibraltar U21 | Bulgaria U21 | Smarkalev | 0-1 |
Fri, 27/03, 20:00 CET | Belgium U21 | Austria U21 | Mbangula | 1-0 |
Sat, 28/03, 12:00 CET | Croatia U19 | Norway U19 | Čović | 1-0 |
Sat, 28/03, 18:00 CET | Germany U19 | Greece U19 | Schmetgens | 1-0 |
~ | Scotland | Japan | Sugawara | 0-1 |
Tue, 31/03, 12:00 CEST | France U19 | Croatia U19 | Čović | 1-1 |
Tue, 31/03, 16:45 CEST | Poland U20 | Germany U20 | Musah | 0-1 |
Tue, 31/03, 18:00 CEST | Greece U21 | Germany U21 | Backhaus & Coulibaly | 0-2 |
~ | Austria U19 | Germany U19 | Schmetgens | 2-3 |
~ | Bulgaria U21 | Azerbaijan U21 | Smarkalev | 0-0 |
Tue, 31/03, 20:45 CEST | Austria | South Korea | Friedl, Schmid & Wöber | 1-0 |
~ | England | Japan | Sugawara | 0-1 |
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