Determined German Women's Hockey Team Fights Hard in the Semi-finals of the European Championship
The German women's hockey team is set to take on Belgium in the semi-finals of the European Championship on Friday at 20:00 CET. This will be the second consecutive time these teams meet in the semi-finals, following their encounter in the 2023 European Championship.
The German team qualified for the semi-finals after a defeat against the defending champions, the Netherlands. The Dutch team, led by coach Janneke Schopman, will play for a medal in their first tournament.
The matches are being played at Magentasport, and the semi-finals will be no exception. The home team had a tough group stage, finishing second in Group A behind the Netherlands. In their last group match, they drew 0:0 against Ireland.
The guests played very disciplined and earned a penalty corner in the first quarter, but goalkeeper Julia Sonntag saved it for the German team. After half-time, the home team had better offensive scenes but failed to convert them.
Belgium, on the other hand, finished second in the last European Championship. They have significantly better quality than Ireland and have been a strong contender at the top level, although they are relatively newer compared to Germany.
Interestingly, there is no recent history of the German women's team playing Belgium in the semi-finals of the European Championships. In the 2025 Women's EuroHockey Championship, Germany reached the final but lost to the Netherlands, while Belgium played for bronze and lost to Spain in a shootout after a 0-0 draw.
In the 2023 European Championship, Germany lost to Belgium in the semi-finals. However, in the earlier stages of the tournament, they have a better record against the Belgians, with the German team defeating Belgium twice in the group stage.
The Netherlands will face Spain in the other semi-final of the European Championship at 17:00 CET. The winner of the German-Belgian match will face the winner of the Dutch-Spanish match in the final on Sunday.
Sources:
[1] EuroHockey 2025: Germany vs Netherlands Final, Belgium vs Spain Bronze Medal Game [2] EuroHockey 2025: Germany's Semi-Final Loss to Netherlands, Belgium's Bronze Medal Shootout Loss to Spain [3] EuroHockey 2025: No Recent German-Belgian Semi-Final in Women's European Championships [4] Historical Overview of German Women's Hockey Team in European Championships
