Germany Women vs. Australia Women – prediction, team news, lineups
Germany Women and Australia Women will go head to head in Thursday’s Olympic clash at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille.
DFB-Frauen are set to make their sixth appearance at the Olympics, while the Matildas will participate in the tournament for the fifth time.
Match preview
Germany produced a disappointing performance at the 2023 World Cup, mustering four points from three matches to finish behind Colombia and Morocco in their group.
Martina Voss-Tecklenburg left her role as Germany manager just a couple of months after overseeing the group-stage exit, leaving Horst Hrubesch to assume interim charge until Christian Wuck becomes the new permanent boss following the Olympics.
Hrubesch has enjoyed success during his temporary spell, guiding Germany to a third-place finish in the UEFA Nations League to secure Olympic qualification, before recently overseeing a productive Euro 2025 qualifying campaign.
After winning their first four qualifiers, Germany suffered a surprise 3-0 defeat to Iceland, before they quickly returned to winning ways with a 4-0 victory over Austria, ensuring they finished in top spot in Group A4.
DFB-Frauen will now look to continue their impressive record at the Olympics, having progressed from the group stage in each of their previous four appearances.
Meanwhile, Australia will be gunning for glory in Paris just one year after they co-hosted the 2023 World Cup with New Zealand.
The Matildas successfully negotiated their way to the semi-finals of their home tournament, before their World Cup dreams were quashed by a 3-1 defeat to England.
Australia went on to lose the third-place playoff just like they did in the 2020 Olympics when they narrowly missed out on a bronze medal.
They will return to the Olympic stage after making light work of qualifying, including an eyewatering 13-0 aggregate win over Uzbekistan in the final round in February.
The Matildas know they will face tougher tests over the next three matchdays as they look to continue their run of reaching the knockout rounds, having progressed from the group stage in their last three Olympic appearances.
Germany Women form (all competitions): WWWWLW
Australia Women form (all competitions): WWWDWL
Germany Women vs. Australia Women odds
One of the more interesting matchups in the first round of the tournament is this one. Yes, Germany Women are the favourites with a 60.60% win probability, but Australia Women aren't without chances, with a 20% win probability.
Germany Women Odds: 13/20 – 60.60% probability
Draw Odds: 16/5 – 23.80% probability
Australia Women Odds: 4/1 – 20.00% probability
Things are even closer if we look at the basic goal markets, where over 2.5 total goals is priced at 4/5 odds (55.60% probability) and under 2.5 total goals is priced at 23/20, which is the same as a 46.50% probability. These odds clearly show that the bookies aren't sure what they can expect from this game.
Meanwhile, both teams to score comes with 5/6 odds and a 54.50% probability.
Team News
Germany will be unable to call upon their key midfielder Lena Oberdorf, who sustained a cruciate and medial collateral ligament injury in the recent Euro 2025 qualifying win over Austria.
Freiburg’s Janina Minge has replaced Oberdorf in the 18-player squad, while Eintracht Frankfurt’s Pia-Sophie Wolter has been added to Germany’s reserve list.
After scoring six goals in Euro 2025 qualifying, Lea Schuller will be looking to carry her impressive form into the Olympics.
As for Australia, they are without the services of Chelsea forward Sam Kerr, who is continuing to work on her recovery from an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Australia boss Tony Gustavsson has named Lydia Williams, Courtney Nevin, Charlotte Grant and Sharn Freier as his travelling reserves.
Arsenal forward Caitlin Foord has revealed she will be fit to play despite sitting out the warm-up game against Canada due to a muscular issue.
Germany Women possible starting lineup: Berger; Gwinn, Hendrich, Schulze, Linder; Brand, Senss, Nusken, Buhl; Freigang, Schuller
Australia Women possible starting lineup: Arnold; Carpenter, Kennedy, Hunt, Catley; Raso, Gorry, Cooney-Cross, Foord; Vine, Fowler
We say: Germany Women 2-1 Australia Women
Germany have won 10 of their 14 matches since last year's World Cup, and while we expect Thursday's game to be a close-fought affair, we think DFB-Frauen will draw upon their recent flurry of victories to claim a narrow win in their Olympic opener.
