Germany could plausibly name up to five coherent starting line-ups when they go in search of a record-equalling fifth World Cup triumph this summer…
Nagelsmann can only name 26 players, and a number of them have already played their way into the squad if not the starting XI – but there is still some wiggle room with two months to go before the tournament kicks off in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Germany – champions in 1954, ’75, ’90 and 2014 – have been drawn in Group E alongside Curaçao, Côte d’Ivoire and Ecuador, and it is reasonable to assume that the starting line-up when they kick off their campaign against the first of those in Houston, Texas, will look something like this first graphic:
Nagelsmann has largely settled on a 4-2-3-1 formation for Germany, although he has the personnel to switch to three at the back if needed, and some of the players simply pick themselves.
Injury-permitting, Jamal Musiala will line up alongside Florian Wirtz in the final third for what is one of the most talented attacking midfield partnerships in world football. The engine room behind them is likely to be populated by Musiala’s Bayern Munich teammates Leon Goretzka and Aleksandar Pavlović, with their club and now national team captain Joshua Kimmich reinstated as a right-back.
Watch: A tactical analysis of the right-back Kimmich was
“I have to weigh things up: What is the smaller need and what is the bigger need? At the moment, I can’t see a more stable right-back than Josh,” Nagelsmann said last year after Benjamin Henrichs had ruptured his Achilles tendon, and it is a position he has stuck to.
Kimmich will lead the team out in North America with Manuel Neuer having called time on his international career, meanwhile. Neuer – something of a footballing revolutionary and perhaps the greatest of all time in his position – would appear to be just as likely to retire as to make an international comeback this summer. The new No.1 is Hoffenheim man Oliver Baumann, with VfB Stuttgart’s Alexander Nübel acting as his understudy.
Nübel would underpin this second team, then, and he is among a number of players who could so easily slot into the first. Serge Gnabry and Lennart Karl are both in glittering form for Bayern, and could each usurp Leroy Sané depending on Nagelsmann’s preference on the day.
Felix Nmecha and his former Borussia Dortmund colleague Pascal Groß were among the players listed by Nagelsmann in the aforementioned interview explaining the greater need for Kimmich at right-back than central midfield, and they would happily re-establish their former club partnership provided Nmecha overcomes a torn cruciate ligament in time.
In Nick Woltemade, Antonio Rüdiger, Jamie Leweling and Josha Vagnoman, there are VfB Stuttgart players past and present capable of playing at the top level, one of whom (Rüdiger) now starts for Real Madrid. Now Newcastle striker Woltemade would help clear plenty of room for whomever was in the final third behind him, his hulking 6’6”-inch frame complemented by a deft touch.
That’s not to underestimate Woltemade’s successor at Stuttgart Deniz Undav’s ability to link play. Undav came off the bench to score against Ghana in the March international break, and should have an invaluable role to play as an impact sub this summer. “I believe he only touched the ball once before scoring. But that’s also what makes him a top striker, to be at the right time where the ball is,” Nagelsmann explained. “We’ll need some game-changers in the summer to decide matches.”
Angelo Stiller is another who played himself into contention with his two starts in the victories over Switzerland and then Ghana, while Assan Ouédraogo might be the most talented young midfielder in the land. A world and European champion with Germany at U17 level, the RB Leipzig man, still 19, could well punch his ticket with a smooth Second half of the season recovery from a knee injury that disrupted what had been another nascent season.
Watch: Ouédraogo’s Bundesliga goals and assists so far
With Barcelona’s former Borussia Mönchengladbach star Marc-André ter Stegen still sidelined, Jonas Urbig, another Bayern player, looks to be third in line in goal.
Germany’s impressive strength in depth is further evidenced by the fact that in the potential fourth string below there are six players with double digits for caps earned, led by Julian Brandt who has turned out for The team some 48 times, most recently in November 2024. He’s now an outside bet, but one or two injuries and Germany would still be leaning on a talented player with a wealth of experience.
Brandt’s Dortmund teammate Karim Adeyemi only boasts 11 of those international outings, but he is a player who can play anywhere across the attack, including at No.9 should Nagelsmann elect to pinch a position, and Adeyemi’s eight Champions League goals and two assists over the last two seasons, plundered at a rate of one every 94 minutes, would seem to confirm his big-game credentials.
Further back, Hawaii-born Noahkai Banks remains uncapped at full international level, but he recently turned down a call-up to the USMNT; the talented Augsburg centre-back with a German mother electing to keep his options open for now. The USA’s loss could yet be Germany’s gain.
Nagelsmann is understood to want an old school No.9 in in his ranks, meanwhile, the belief that a bustling penalty box striker could prove the difference late on in key tournament games. Woltemade’s size is deceptive in this regard; for the specific role Gladbach’s Tim Kleindienst would appear to be in a head-to-head battle with Niclas Füllkrug, formerly of Werder Bremen and BVB but now on loan at AC Milan from West Ham. Kleindienst has a race against time after recent knee injuries.
Saïd El Mala and Tom Bischof are among the young players looking to stake their claim. The former has shown his wing wizardry at Cologne this season, while the latter has a useful Kimmich-esque quality of being capable at full-back or central midfield, only in his case on the left of Bayern’s, and potentially Germany’s, defence.
Nagelsmann recently stated he has nine of his likely starting XI in mind. That leaves two on the field, and 17 among his squad for the World Cup this summer. He has a wealth of options at his disposal, and it would take a brave observer to back against the four-time champions this time around.
Comments are closed.