Friendlies
Undav eases Germany past Finland in World Cup tune-up
Deniz Undav scored twice and set up another as Germany cruised to a 4-0 win over Finland in Mainz on Sunday in their final home warm-up before the World Cup.… Show More
Deniz Undav scored twice and set up another as Germany cruised to a 4-0 win over Finland in Mainz on Sunday in their final home warm-up before the World Cup.
Handed a rare start with Champions League finalist Kai Havertz yet to join the squad, Undav terrorised the outclassed Finns alongside 18-year-old Lennart Karl on his full debut for Germany.
Undav was replaced due to injury just after scoring his second goal, his sixth in eight games for the national team.
"It was a 10 out of 10 evening," Undav told Germany's ZDF network. "Good night, family was here, the main thing is we won... I had three goal contributions – it couldn't have gone much better."
Jamal Musiala, playing his first Germany match since March 2025 after missing much of the season with a broken leg, scored on his return, while Florian Wirtz also got on the scoresheet.
"I hope it was fun for everyone -- it was for me," Musiala said. "It'll do me good. I haven't scored for a while."
Finland, ranked 73rd in the world, were little match for the four-time World Cup winners, who have one final friendly before the tournament.
The Germans play World Cup co-hosts the United States in Chicago on Saturday, before opening their campaign against Curacao on June 14.
Coach Julian Nagelsmann shuffled his deck against Finland, handing Undav, Nathaniel Brown and Felix Nmecha rare starts, while naming Karl in the line-up for the first time.
Veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who was given a shock recall almost two years after announcing his international retirement, sat out with a calf injury as Oliver Baumann started between the sticks.
The energetic Karl impressed early, cutting in from the right. Brown found Undav but the Stuttgart striker's shot was saved by Finland 'keeper Lukas Hradecky.
Undav gave Germany the lead on 34 minutes. Germany captain Joshua Kimmich looped in a delightful cross from the right directly to Undav, who headed home.
Early in the second half, Undav pounced on a poor Ville Koski pass and cut square for Wirtz to tap home.
Just before the hour mark, Undav was in the thick of things again when he burst onto a Karl pass and coolly slotted home. He was substituted immediately after but played down the severity of his injury.
"A little bit of pain but nothing wild," Undav said. "Everything's fine. I'll need a couple of days treatment and then I'll be fine."
Playing his first Germany match for 434 days, Musiala added gloss to the victory when he blasted in from just inside the box to complete the rout.
