Another individual World Cup team preview, this time for Germany, who will close out their group games in New Jersey against Ecuador. This post, like all of our World Cup team previews, is free to read, but we'd appreciate it if you contributed to our site's sustainability by becoming a paid subscriber, or by making a one-time donation.
As their World Cup campaign begins, there's more hype for German tourist and newly-minted internet celebrity @FreddyLA7's travels across the United States than there is for the actual German national team.
Germany is often counted among the favorites to challenge for the trophy whenever the World Cup comes around, but the four-time champions haven't been able to escape the group stage in back-to-back tournaments.
Their last knockout-round match at a World Cup was the 2014 final in Brazil when they beat Argentina to earn a fourth star, but in 2026, they'll be trying to wipe away a number of recent major-tournament disappointments, be it the 2022 World Cup, the 2024 Euros, or even the 2025 UEFA Nations League finals.
To do see, Germany will need coach Julian Nagelsmann, leading the national team at his first World Cup, to coax big performances from players who've not yet broken out at the highest level for Die Mannschaft.
ELO Rating: 10th
Group E: Germany, Curaçao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador
Group Schedule
vs Curaçao, Sunday, June 14, Houston, Texas, 1:00 pm ET
vs Ivory Coast, Saturday, June 20, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 4:00 pm ET
vs Ecuador, Thursday, June 25, East Rutherford, New Jersey, 4:00 pm ET
At their last World Cup: 2022, Group stage. Lost to Japan, drew Spain, beat Costa Rica, but finished third in Group E and didn't advance
Record in UEFA qualifying: 5W-0D-1L, +13 goal differential (16 gf/3 ga)
Head Coach: Julian Nagelsmann
Record with Germany: 21W-6D-6L, +42 goal differential (76 gf/34 ga)
Preferred formation: 4-2-3-1
Nickname: Die Mannschaft
Pre-tournament vibe check
There's skepticism surrounding Germany's chances this summer, because they've been consistently coming up short against other top international sides.
Germany lost back-to-back Nations League matches to France and Portugal in early 2025, and that came after Spain eliminated Nagelsmann's squad in the quarterfinals of Euro 2024, a tournament that was played on German soil. They also stumbled at the very beginning of World Cup qualifying, losing to Slovakia, only their fourth-ever loss in World Cup qualifying.
There are also legit questions around who scores the goals for the Germans, since they've got a bit of a void at striker. Long gone are the days of Miroslav Klose, who scored 16 goals at the World Cup in his career, the most of any individual player in the tournament's history. Now in 2026, Germany hopes some combination of Arsenal FC's Kai Havertz, VfB Stuttgart's Deniz Undav, or Newcastle United's Nick Woltemade can step up and grab hold of the No 9 role this summer.
Even if the striker spot is unsettled, the attacking front four for Germany still boasts a ton of star power, like Leroy Sane, Florian Wirtz, and Jamal Musiala, it just remains to be seen who their most clinical finisher will prove to be at the very top of their formation.
Who to watch
Florian Wirtz had what you'd consider a disappointing first season in the English Premier League after Liverpool FC paid a reported £100 million to pry him away from Bayer Leverkusen. He scored just seven goals and added 10 assists in 49 games across all competitions, a significant drop from the 31 goals-plus-assists he collected in his final season in the German Bundesliga.
The national team is a different animal than the Premier League, and his form has picked up of late while in Germany's colors, as Wirtz had two goals and two assists in a friendly win over Switzerland in March, and he scored against Finland in another friendly in late-May.
While he's a No 10 creative central midfielder in usual times, he's been playing on the left of the German attack, since the team has a plethora of options to fill his usual No 10 role. Wirtz has a chance to be Germany's breakout attacking star, and he might be extra motivated to fill that role after being forced to miss out on the 2022 World Cup after suffering a torn ACL injury.
Speaking of missing games due to unfortunate injuries, Jamal Musiala suffered a horrific leg break last July while playing for FC Bayern Munich at the FIFA Club World Cup, but he's now recovered and fully healthy entering this World Cup.
Musiala was once hailed as the great next hope of German soccer, and now that he's back to full fitness, what Nageslmann gets out of each of Musiala and Wirtz might be the difference between another early disappointing exit, or a run deeper than many expect the Germans to go this summer.
X-factor
Manuel Neuer is one of the best goalkeepers in the sport's history, but he's 40 years old and actually came out of international retirement for one last ride at this World Cup after Marc-André ter Stegen picked up an injury that ruled him out of the tournament.
Neuer's days between the sticks at international level seemed to be over after the 2024 Euros, but now he'll try to anchor a defense that doesn't seem as imposing and impenetrable as it once did.
This will be Neuer's fifth World Cup, and while his form with Bayern Munich this season included a Bundesliga-best 0.97 goals against per-90 minutes and seven clean sheets, fifth-most in the league, there are doubts about him returning for yet another big international tournament.
He revolutionized the goalkeeper position as a true sweeper-keeper and led Germany and Bayern to unmatched highs during his storied career, but is he really up for one Last Dance at the World Cup? Neuer and the German defense struggled at the 2022 tournament, and the goalkeeper returning and walking right back into Nageslmann's lineup is a big call that could be a difference-maker, depending on how the veteran shot-stopper performs in what will be his last bow on the international stage.
The full 26-player roster
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (FC Bayern Munich), Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim), Alexander Nübel (VfB Stuttgart)
Defenders: Joshua Kimmich (FC Bayern Munich), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Jonathan Tah (FC Bayern Munich), Waldemar Anton (Borussia Dortmund), Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid), Nathaniel Brown (Eintracht Frankfurt), Malick Thiaw (Newcastle United)
Midfielders: Jamal Musiala (FC Bayern Munich), Florian Wirtz (Liverpool FC), Assan Ouédraogo (RB Leipzig), Angelo Stiller (VfB Stuttgart), Aleksandar Pavlovic (FC Bayern Munich), Leon Goretzka (FC Bayern Munich), Leroy Sane (Galatasaray), Felix Nmecha (Borussia Dortmund), Nadiem Amiri (Mainz), Pascal Gross (Brighton and Hove Albion)
Forwards: Kai Havertz (Arsenal FC), Deniz Undav (VfB Stuttgart), Jamie Leweling (VfB Stuttgart), Nick Woltemade (Newcastle United), Maximilian Beier (Borussia Dortmund)
Starting XI
