News (engl.)

The road to the 2026 World Cup begins. Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann has named his 23-man squad for the opening qualifiers against Slovakia on Thursday, 4th September (20:45 CEST) in Bratislava and Northern Ireland on Sunday, 7th September (20:45 CEST) in Cologne. Speaking a few days before the squad meets, Nagelsmann discussed his three new call-ups, the goalkeeper position, and his expectations heading into the qualifiers.

Julian Nagelsmann on...

...newcomers Dahmen, Collins and Nebel: “We’re convinced this is the right squad. The three new players have fully earned their chance to show what they can do at senior level. Finn Dahmen has been consistently strong for several years and has had an interesting career path, overcoming a few setbacks along the way. Nnamdi Collins had an excellent U21 Euros, has settled well at Frankfurt and, with his pace and physicality, offers great attributes. He’s played a little deeper at Frankfurt than with the U21s – how he plays for us, I won’t reveal yet. Paul Nebel was one of the standout attacking players last season, had a great campaign with Mainz and brings a real fearlessness that will also benefit our training sessions.”

...on Noah Atubolu: “Noah could easily have been called up too and remains on standby. He came under heavy criticism at the start of last season but has since stabilised. After a strong U21 Euros, he’s firmly on our radar. If he continues to perform like this, it’s only a matter of time before he joins up with us.”

...on other potential debutants: “We also had other candidates in mind. Nathaniel Brown, Max Rosenfelder and Nicolas Kühn were all considered but are sidelined through injury. We expect a few players to come back into contention for October. For now, though, we’re fully convinced by these 23 and are aiming for two good performances.”

...on naming Oliver Baumann as number one: “I’m happy with all of our goalkeepers, including Marc-André ter Stegen – they’re all excellent in possession. But Oliver Baumann will be our number one. He’s been performing at a high level for years, made a great impression with us, and effectively saved the game against Italy. He’s very respected within the group, a great guy and an outstanding character. I have full trust in him, and he’ll stay our number one until Marc is healthy and fit again.”

...on expectations for the qualifiers: “We’re favourites in this group, and I want us to show real dominance throughout. That doesn’t mean we need to win every game 5-0, but I want us to make sure there’s never any doubt. Against Italy and Portugal recently, we gave up leads – that can’t happen. We need to get into a rhythm now, otherwise there won’t be much time to build one next year. A dominant 1-0 is fine, but we don’t want to scrape through games. We want to win every match with full conviction.”

...on attacking options and Jonathan Burkardt: “We have plenty of players who can support the attack, so this was also about striker profiles. Jonny has done okay so far at Frankfurt but he’s still stepping into some big shoes. With us, the impressions weren’t strong enough to make him a guaranteed pick. We’ve gone with Niclas Füllkrug and Nick Woltemade for a different profile, but the door remains very much open for him.”

...on the injured Nico Schlotterbeck: “Nico is exactly the kind of defender I’d like to have – a left-footer with real bite and aggression. But for that, he needs to be fully fit. His recovery is going well and, if he gets back to his best, he’ll be pushing hard for a place.”