Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich: Germany deserved the win over Spain

After failing to advance out of the Group Stage at the 2022 World Cup, the German national team spent three years searching for the team’s identity. Joachim Löw and Hansi Flick both failed to provide a solution so the DFB turned to Julian Nagelsmann.

Fast forward to the EURO 2024, where Germany proudly hosted the tournament. Germany played with a much improved energy and style of play that fit the team’s personnel. Germany won its group stage and defeated Denmark to face powerhouse Spain in the quarterfinal.

Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich delivered a beautiful assist to Florian Wirtz in the 89th minute to send the match into extra time. However, Spain scored a header of its own in the 119th minute to eliminate Germany from the competition.

In the postgame interview (as captured by @iMiaSanMia), Kimmich said, “Unfortunately, it was very unfair. We were much better in the second half and extra time. The Spaniards just wanted to save themselves by going into the penalty shootout. We had two really good chances after conceding the goal and should have been awarded a penalty for a handball.”

The stats will reflect that Germany was slightly better in every category, except for the one that matters. But now Germany has a solid foundation to build on with its younger core. Germany will need to find a more reliable scoring option and will head into the 2026 World Cup as a reasonable to win its fifth title, matching the record holders from Brazil.

Looking for more thoughts and analysis on Germany’s 2-0 victory over Denmark? Good, then we have you covered with our Bavarian Podcast Works — Postgame Show where we cover the starting lineup selection, a rundown of the scoring and substitutions, and takes on how it all played out. You can get the podcast on Spotify or below: