Manchester City’s Lukas Nmecha hit the winner as Germany beat Portugal to win a third European Under-21 Championship.
Nmecha, who spent 2020-21 on loan at Anderlecht, scored from a tight angle after rounding the keeper following Ridle Baku’s excellent pass.
Germany had twice gone close before scoring in Ljubljana, Slovenia, with Florian Wirtz hitting the bar and Arne Maier having a shot tipped over.
Portugal have now lost all three finals they have appeared in.
Hamburg-born forward Nmecha, who was raised in England and played for England at under-21 level before switching to Germany in 2019, finishes the tournament as leading scorer.
The 22-year-old’s goal, a composed finish after being picked out by Baku, was his fourth of the tournament.
His career includes loan spells at Preston, Middlesbrough and Wolfsburg.
Ironically, Nmecha scored the winner for England Under-19s in the 2017 European Championship final against Portugal.
Portugal’s journey to this year’s final had included a 2-0 win over England in March.
Rui Jorge’s side knocked out defending champions Spain in the semi-finals but they managed just one attempt on target against Germany.
Manchester United full-back Diogo Dalot and Tiago Tomas went close but Germany were the most threatening.
Karim Adeyemi and Nmecha both had attempts saved by Diogo Costa in the closing stages before Germany added to their previous triumphs in the competition in 2009 and 2017.
Line-ups
Germany U21
Formation 4-3-3
- 12Dahmen
- 21Baku
- 5Pieper
- 4Schlotterbeck
- 3RaumBooked at 90mins
- 8Maier
- 6DorschSubstituted forJaneltat 85′minutes
- 13ÖzcanBooked at 90minsSubstituted forStachat 90+2′minutes
- 7WirtzBooked at 12minsSubstituted forAdeyemiat 67′minutes
- 10NmechaBooked at 43minsSubstituted forJakobsat 85′minutes
- 11BerishaSubstituted forBurkardtat 67′minutes
Substitutes
- 1Schubert
- 2Vagnoman
- 9Burkardt
- 14Jaeckel
- 15Jakobs
- 16Appelkamp
- 17Stach
- 18Adeyemi
- 19Mai
- 20Janelt
- 22Klimowicz
- 23Grill
Portugal U21
Formation 4-1-2-1-2
- 1Meireles Costa
- 5Dalot
- 4Queirós
- 3Monteiro Pinto Leite
- 2Cadri ContéSubstituted forMatias Ramosat 86′minutes
- 6Morris LuÃsSubstituted forCarvalho Fernandesat 83′minutes
- 7VitinhaSubstituted forNeves Filipeat 59′minutesBooked at 90mins
- 10Santos BragançaBooked at 58mins
- 23Vieira
- 11Mota CarvalhoSubstituted forda Conceição Leãoat 45′minutes
- 19de Melo TomásSubstituted forConceiçãoat 59′minutes
Substitutes
- 8Carvalho Fernandes
- 9da Conceição Leão
- 12Arantes Maximiano
- 13Franco Tavares
- 14Lopes Pereira
- 15Embaló Djaló
- 16Silva Baró
- 17Barros Soares
- 18Matias Ramos
- 20Neves Filipe
- 21Conceição
- 22Neves VirgÃnia
- Referee:
- Giorgi Kruashvili
- Attendance:
- 4,883
Live Text
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Match ends, Germany U21 1, Portugal U21 0.
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Second Half ends, Germany U21 1, Portugal U21 0.
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Offside, Germany U21. Ridle Baku tries a through ball, but Karim Adeyemi is caught offside.
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Jota (Portugal U21) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Foul by Jota (Portugal U21).
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Jonathan Burkardt (Germany U21) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Substitution, Germany U21. Anton Stach replaces Salih Özcan.
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Salih Özcan (Germany U21) is shown the yellow card.
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Foul by Fábio Vieira (Portugal U21).
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Karim Adeyemi (Germany U21) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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David Raum (Germany U21) is shown the yellow card.
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Francisco Conceição (Portugal U21) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Foul by David Raum (Germany U21).
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Foul by Diogo Leite (Portugal U21).
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Jonathan Burkardt (Germany U21) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Substitution, Portugal U21. Gonçalo Ramos replaces Abdu Conté.
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Foul by Rafael Leão (Portugal U21).
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Vitaly Janelt (Germany U21) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Substitution, Germany U21. Ismail Jakobs replaces Lukas Nmecha.
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Substitution, Germany U21. Vitaly Janelt replaces Niklas Dorsch.
