Baumgartner scored after just six seconds in the ÖFB team’s 2-0 victory in Slovakia, setting a new record. Possibly inspired by this, returnee Toni Kroos quickly passed the ball in the Groupama Arena after the kick-off to Wirtz, who had plenty of space in the center, ran towards the penalty area and scored from almost 20 meters via the underside of the crossbar. The Leverkusen player eclipsed the previous German record set by Lukas Podolski, who scored after nine seconds in a 4-2 win against Ecuador on May 29, 2013 in Miami.
After a sleepy start, vice world champion France only found their way into the game after a quarter of an hour, took command and created a lot of pressure. A Thuram left-footed shot went over (20th), Kylian Mbappe missed the goal from 13 meters (22nd), as did Adrien Rabiot from the five-pointer (35th). Two minutes later, the Germans were a little lucky that an alleged foul by Jonathan Tah on Marcus Thuram in the penalty area went unpunished.
Havertz closes the bag
The Germans managed to get off to a lightning start even after the restart. Wirtz served Jamal Musiala with a long pass. The Bayern player passed goalie Brice Samba and played back to Kai Havertz, who had little trouble finishing from six meters (49′). Ousmane Dembele could have scored the next goal for Austria’s European Championship group opponents, but he aimed past the far corner (55th). Otherwise the Germans were closer to their third goal.
APA/AFP/Franck Fife DFB coach Nagelsmann celebrated an important success on the way to the home European Championship
Samba, who usually acts as a French substitute goalkeeper, was able to excel with a shot from debutant Maximilian Mittelstädt (79th) as well as a double chance from the “jokers” Thomas Müller and Deniz Undav (81st). On the other hand, things became dangerous again with a strange near-own goal from Mittelstädt including a clearance from Rüdiger via the crossbar (88th), but a goal would not have counted due to an offside position. For the Germans it was the first victory in France in more than eleven years.
England is defeated by Brazil
In another blow, England suffered a 1-0 defeat against Brazil without Bayern star Harry Kane, who suffered an ankle injury. The only goal at Wembley Stadium, Endrick, was scored by a 17-year-old substitute in the 80th minute. The striker celebrated his debut goal in the “Selecao” dress; he will move from Palmeiras to the Spanish David Alaba club Real Madrid after this season.
It was a successful debut for Brazil’s new team boss Dorival Junior, despite a few injury-related absences, such as that of Neymar, and five debutants in the starting line-up. For England, Kyle Walker had to be substituted after less than 20 minutes.
Draw in Belgium against Ireland
There was also no sense of success for Belgium in the 0-0 draw in Ireland. Without the injured top star Kevin de Bruyne, the “Red Devils” were even lucky when goalkeeper Matz Sels was able to save a penalty from Irishman Evan Ferguson in the first half. As a result, the Belgians were able to extend their unbeaten international series to eleven games – including two games in the European Championship qualifiers against Austria (3:2, 1:1).
No goals were scored in Denmark’s duel with Switzerland either. At the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, the “Confederates” had to cope with the loss of regular goalkeeper Yann Sommer early on, who was unable to continue playing in the first half after a collision with former Sturm Graz striker Rasmus Höjlund. There was also a 0-0 draw for Croatia against Tunisia in Cairo.
