Florian Wirtz Involved In All Four Goals As Germany Beats Switzerland

Basel, Switzerland – Florian Wirtz authored the most complete performance of his senior international career on Friday night, scoring twice and assisting the other two goals to propel Germany to a 4-3 friendly victory over Switzerland at St. Jakob-Park.

The 22-year-old Liverpool attacker, signed last summer for a club-record £116 million, single-handedly decided a see-saw contest that offered both encouragement and warning signs for a German squad preparing for the upcoming World Cup without the retired core of Manuel Neuer, Toni Kroos, Ilkay Gundogan and Thomas Muller.

Wirtz opened the scoring in the 12th minute with an audacious right-footed corner that curled over the Swiss defence, kissed the underside of the crossbar and dropped inside the far post. “I’d be lying if I said I meant it to go exactly there,” he admitted afterwards, “but I’ll take it.”

Any debate over intent was settled 20 minutes later when Wirtz collected a clearance 20 metres out and arrowed a left-footed drive into the top-left corner for his second. The brace was followed by two second-half assists: a pinpoint far-post cross that Jonathan Tah powered home and a slide-rule pass that Serge Gnabry dinked over onrushing goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.

“That was probably my best international match,” Wirtz said, a verdict few in the sold-out Swiss stadium would dispute. His direct involvement in all four German goals underscored his emergence as the team’s creative anchor in the post-Muller/Kroos era.

Yet the night was not without blemishes. Switzerland clawed back three times, exposing a German back line that coach Julian Nagelsmann concedes must improve rapidly. The defensive frailty was compounded by ongoing uncertainty over Jamal Musiala’s fitness, with Nagelsmann acknowledging this week that “time is running out” for the injured playmaker to prove his readiness.

Still, the result ends a turbulent week on a positive note for Germany, which has suffered group-stage exits in each of the past two World Cups and has not entered a major tournament without Neuer, Kroos, Gundogan and Muller since Euro 2008.

For Wirtz, the evening offered a timely reminder of why the German federation views him as the attacking focal point heading into a pivotal summer, even as his inaugural Premier League campaign under Arne Slot continues to evolve.