Alongside Florian Wirtz, Lisanne Gräwe and Clara Fröhlich from the Bayer 04 Women's team also received their award averaging receive their medals at the end of February. The international friendlies against Peru and Belgium were the first games for Wirtz in a Germany shirt since his cruciate injury in March 2022. The sporting director of the national teams, Panagiotis Chatzialexiou, and Heike Ullrich, as general secretary of the DFB, used the home game in Cologne to present the awards.
This is the second time Wirtz has received the highest award for youth players from the German Football Association (DFB). The forward received the gold Fritz Walter Medal as the top player in the U17 age group in 2020.
The Fritz Walter Medal:
The Fritz Walter Medal is the highest individual award in German youth football and is awarded annually to the best male and female players in the U17 and U19 age groups in gold silver and bronze. Wirtz, at the Werkself since January 2020, follows in impressive footsteps as a winner of this award at Bayer 04: Jonathan Tah won gold in 2015 in the U19 category and Benjamin Henrichs won the gold medal in the same age group the following year, and Kai Havertz achieved the same feat in 2018.
Leverkusen winners of the Fritz Walter Medal:
2022: Florian Wirtz (U19/gold), Lisanne Gräwe (U19 Women/gold), Clara Fröhlich (U17 Women/gold)
2020: Florian Wirtz (U17/gold)
2018: Kai Havertz (U19/gold)
2016: Benjamin Henrichs (U19/gold); Kai Havertz (U17/silver)
2015: Jonathan Tah (U19/gold)
2014: Julian Brandt (U18/gold); Levin Öztunali (U18/silver)
2013: Dominik Kohr (U19/bronze)
2012: Dominik Kohr (U18/bronze)
2010: Kolja Pusch (U17/bronze)
2008: Marcel Risse (U19/bronze); Richard Sukuta-Pasu (U18/bronze)
2007: Stefan Reinartz (U18/bronze); Nils Teixeira (U17/bronze)
Photo (DFB/GES) from left to right.: Panagiotis Chatzialexiou (Sporting director of national teams, Florian Wirtz (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Heike Ullrich (DFB general secretary)
