45 PM local time in Stuttgart
A fixture against the Africa Cup of Nations champions, Côte d’Ivoire, is scheduled for March 30th at 8:45 PM local time in Stuttgart Just under two months later, on May 31st at the same time, Finland will visit Mainz for another friendly encounter The DFB clarified that these dates are contingent upon successful direct qualification for the World Cup and are subject to the World Cup group draw, which will take place on December 5th in Washington
Germany has previously faced Côte d’Ivoire only once, a friendly match held on November 18th, 2009, in Gelsenkirchen, which ended in a 2-2 draw The German national team has a longer history with Finland, having played them a total of 23 times Germany has secured 16 wins in those encounters, most recently a 2-0 victory on August 31st, 2016, in Mönchengladbach during the farewell match for World Cup winner Bastian Schweinsteiger Six matches between the two nations have ended in draws, while Finland has recorded a single victory
The DFB has indicated that further international opponents and match locations in the lead-up to the World Cup will be announced at a later date