Germany squander lead against Argentina

Lucas Alario inspired a second half comeback by Argentina, who salvaged a draw against Germany in Dortmund.

Germany, who handed debuts to Freiburg pair Luca Waldschmidt and Robin Koch, led through the in-form Serge Gnabry, whose expert touch and finish was followed by Kai Havertz's cool finish to cap a slick Germany counter-attack.

Joachim Löw's side were playing with confidence and were complete in control at the break, but Argentina staged a fine comeback, orchestrated by Alario, who plays his club football in the Bundesliga for nearby Bayer Leverkusen.

Alario, a substitute, seized his moment on 66 minutes, glancing a header into the bottom corner after Germany were slow to close down a cross. He then turned provider five minutes from time, with a strong drive into the box before leaving the ball to Lucas Ocampos, whose shot nicked of Emre Can and beyond Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the Germany goal.

As it happened:

Germany 2-2 Argentina, Signal Iduna Park
(Gnabry 15', Havertz 22' — Alario 66', Ocampos 85')

FT Germany 2-2 Argentina — A second half comeback by Argentina sees this one finish all square in Dortmund. Gnabry and Havertz both on the scoresheet, but it's not enough in the end. Plenty for Löw to think about after that one though.

90' Two minutes of added time. Germany have been indisciplined in the second half and it's cost them. 

87' There's a danger Germany could lose this, which would be quite unbelievable. Argentina finding spaces behind the Germany defense that weren't being exploited before. 

85' GOAL! Germany 2-2 Argentina — Ocampos scores! Serdar loses the ball in midfield and Argentina break. Alario drives into the box, turning provider for Ocampos, who guides the ball beyond ter Stegen, via a deflection off Can.

83' Rudy on just to shore things up for the final few minutes. Havertz has enjoyed a fine performance. Scorer of the second goal and a considerable all-round contribution on only his second start for Die Nationalmannschaft.

82' Germany sub: Rudy on, Havertz off. 

79' Argentina starting to unlock the Germany defense. Another chance, this time for Alario after a Kimmich mistake but the Leverkusen striker took it a little wide and ter Stegen stood up well to him.

77' Chance for Argentina, gifted to them by a lazy free-kick from Can that went across his own goal. Asking for trouble, and ter Stegen digs Germany out of trouble.

75' It was struck straight at Marchesin, who punched it clear. There was quite a lot of power on theat from Kimmich, and I don't think Marchesin was really expecting the direct shot.

74' Amiri straight into the action, sandwiched between two Argentina defenders on the corner of the penalty box and wins a free-kick for Germany. Kimmich standing over it...

72' Germany sub: Amiri on, Gnabry off. Amiri makes his Germany debut.

70' Ter Stegen forced into a solid save to his right from Paredes, who had a go with a decent effort from distance. 

68' Kimmich forced to make a crucial interception on the edge of his own box as Germany's defending becomes a bit slack. Argentina almost force their way through, but the skipper does his bit.

66' GOAL! Germany 2-1 Argentina — Lucas Alario pulls one back! Germany far too slow to close down a cross from their right, and Alario gets ahead of Koch and glances a header into the corner. Ter Stegen no chance and Germany's lead has been cut in half.

58' Havertz is really starting to influence the game in the center of the park. Impressing on his second Germany start.

55'  Chance Germany. Havertz leads the counter-attack and squares it to Can, who was under pressure but got a shot away, only for it to be saved by the legs of Marchesin.

51' Germany picking up where they left off in the first half. Very controlled, keeping Argentina at arm's length.

48' Argentina have made a couple of changes at the break...

46' SECOND HALF. We're back underway in Dortmund.

HT Germany 2-0 Argentina — The first 45 minutes are done and dusted and Germany lead through Gnabry and Havertz's strikes. Things could have got even better for Germany when Halstenburg was denied by the bar. Argentina have been largely disappointing, coming closest to scoring when De Paul struck the post with a long-range strike on 33 minutes. Germany in control.

45' Germany chance. Kimmich again with the ball to pick out Gnabry, whose first touch is exemplary to bring the ball down and he flashes a fine shot across goal and narrowly wide of the far post.Would have been quite the goal had that gone in. Gnabry playing with such confidence at the moment. 

43' The rain is beginning to hammer down in this corner of North Rhein-Westfalia.

41' The corner is cleared but Germany keeping up the pressure and ending the half strongly. It's beena very satisfactory evening for Joachim Löw's players so far.

40' A chance for Germany on the break, but Rojo gets back to cut out Brandt's ball at the expense of a corner.

38' Argentina seeing more of the ball at the moment, but Germany sitting compactly and don't seem overly concerned.

36' The visitors have shown some signs of life in the last few minutes though.

35' Chance Argentina. Pereyra's cross is met by Correa, but the Atletico Madrid midfielder slices his shot high over the bar from about 10 meters out. It was a difficult one, to be fair.

33' Off the post! Argentina almost pull one back as Rodrigo De Paul lets fly and the ball thumps back off the outside of ter Stegen's right post. The Germany keeper was beaten there. An absolute thunderbolt by the Udinese midfielder.

31' Off the bar! Halstenburg cracks a superb free kick against the underside of the bar. Marchesin was beaten and just relieved to see the ball bounce away. What a strike that was by the RB Leipzig man. 

28' Klostermann really is the danger man for Germany. Getting forward at every opportunity and Argentina can't handle it.

26' Chance for Brandt, but the flag is up. Kimmich picks out Süle with a free-kick, but Süle was just offside before he nodded the ball across goal to Brandt, who couldn't make contact anyway as he threw himself at the ball at the far post.

24' Germany really flying at the moment. 

22' GOAL! Germany 2-0 Argentina — Havertz scores! Gnabry turns provider after another rampaging run from Klostermann, who picks out the Bayern Munich man. His pass reached Havertz, whose first time finish caps a sizzling counter-attack. 

20' Argentina's initial confidence seems to have ebbed away very quickly.

17' Germany have the wind in their sails now. So much so that Emre Can fancies his chances from distance, but the less said about that the better.

15' GOAL! Germany 1-0 Argentina — Gnabry scores! Germany are ahead and the man of the moment scores a fine goal to open the scoring in Dortmund. Good work by Klostermann down the right creates the chance, he cuts back to Gnabry, whose deft first touch brilliantly gets him away from Otamendi and the diving challenge of Rojo, and the Bayern forward finds the bottom corner under pressure. Superb opening goal. 

14' Germany started to flex their muscles. Brandt races into some space in front of him and goes for goal, forcing Marchesin into a smart save.

13' Gnabry sent clean through by Kimmich, but the flag is up for offside. It was very close, but he was just off.

12' Yellow for Kimmich. Tonight's captain throws himself into Paredes in the middle of the field. It's late, it's rash and it's a definite booking.

11' Argentina enjoying the better of the game so far. More possession and in control so far. Germany not really settled yet.

8' Chance for Argentina. Pereyra whips in a dangerous cross from the right that Martinez is about to meet, but Emre Can is back in his own six yard area to make a crucial block.

5' A quiet start to this one but a first opening for Gnabry, who skips past the challenge of Otamendi but runs out of space and the ball runs out of play for a goal kick. 

2' The only player on the field who featured in the 2014 final is Argentina's Marcos Rojo. The only Germany player is Manuel Neuer, who is on the bench.

1' KICK OFF! We're underway.

20:40 The players are out in Dortmund. The Südtribüne is a mosaic of Mario Götze's World Cup final winning goal against tonight's opponents in 2014. The national anthems are done and There will now be a minute's silence for the victims of the Halle attack before we start.

20:30 The Argentina team tonight...

20:20 Joshua Kimmich gets the armband tonight. 

20:10 Kick off is a little over half an hour away, and there will be a minute's silence before the game for the victims of the fatal shooting at a synagogue in the German city of Halle earlier on Wednesday. The latest updates on the Halle attack can be found here. 

19:55 Argentina are in the building...

19:35 Here's Germany's starting XI, and Robin Koch does indeed start. There's also a start for Luca Waldschmidt...

19:10 Some news coming out of the Germany team that a stomach bug is going around. The latest victim is Niklas Stark. Unconfirmed as yet, but it could mean Robin Koch makes his debut.

18:45 The main talking point around the Germany team in the past few weeks has been the battle for the #1 jersey. Marc-andre ter Stegen will start tonight's game, but Manuel Neuer remains his first choice in competitive games.

18:20 And some news on Germany's opponents Argentina, who are without Lionel Messi. He is serving a three-month ban for comments made about the South American football federation Conmebol during this year's Copa America tournament. 

17:55 Some pre-match reading for you. Joachim Löw has already admitted that Germany have been "less than optimal" over the past few months. He is still trying to find his strongest team, and recent defeat by the Netherlands has given the coach plenty of food for thought. Our man Jonathan Harding reports from Dortmund.

17:30 Germany vs Argentina evokes memories of the 2014 World Cup final (and 1990, by the way). Five years is a long time in football, so where are Germany's Weltmeisters now? 

17:00 Guten Abend! Welcome to DW's live coverage of Germany's friendly match against Argentina in Dortmund. Kickoff at the Westfalenstadion is at 20:45 (CEST).