Florian Wirtz scored the fastest international goal in DFB history. With his goal directly after kick-off in the friendly match on Saturday (March 23, 2024) in France, Wirtz entered the history books.
Kick-off from Kai Havertz, long pass to the half-left from Toni Kroos, then a short dribble, shot – and in. With his powerful 22-meter shot under the crossbar after eight seconds, Florian Wirtz set a record in the 2-0 victory in the European Championship test in France. Never before has a German national soccer team scored a quicker goal.
Wirtz replaced Lukas Podolski, who took the lead against Ecuador after nine seconds in May 2013. It was also the first goal in the 15th international match for the Bayer 04 Leverkusen professional – and it was a planned one.
Rehearsed variant
As those involved confirmed after the game, the variant was one that had been discussed with the standard team. “We actually didn’t practice it,” Wirtz told Sportschau, “but we went through it on the screen.”
Wirtz narrowly missed the world record. A few hours earlier, Leipzig’s Christoph Baumgartner had scored a second earlier in the Austrians’ 2-0 win in Slovakia.