Julian Nagelsmann has nominated Leroy Sané from Galatasaray Istanbul and Said El Mala from 1. FC Köln for the last two international matches of the year. There are also established players like Joshua Kimmich, Oliver Baumann, Serge Gnabry and Nick Woltemade.
U21 national player El Mala should “show us with all his carefree and carefree attitude”said the national coach, according to a press release, about the teenager, who had his breakthrough this season with four goals in nine Bundesliga games.
Sané, who is there for the first time since his summer move to Galatasaray, has received his nomination “worked with good performances in the Champions League and the Süper Lig”. The winger scored three goals and prepared three in 14 competitive games.
Robert Andrich, Robin Koch, Angelo Stiller and Maximilian Beier were no longer considered. Players like Robin Gosens or Deniz Undav are not included. Nagelsmann has to do without other prominent names at the end of the group phase of the World Cup qualification.
Leroy Sané in the Nations League semi-final against Portugal
Many injured
The injured Marc-André ter Stegen, Antonio Rüdiger, Jamal Musiala and Kai Havertz are still missing from the squad for the games in Luxembourg and against Slovakia. The strikers Niclas Füllkrug and Tim Kleindienst are also not available.
In the games on November 14th in Luxembourg and three days later in Leipzig against Slovakia, Nagelsmann will rely primarily on the strength of captain Joshua Kimmich and striker Nick Woltemade, who led the DFB team to first place in Group A with the victories against Luxembourg (4-0) and in Northern Ireland (1-0) in October.
Two wins get you a ticket to the World Cup
With two wins, Germany would defend top spot and book a direct World Cup ticket to the finals in the summer of 2026 in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
If they miss first place, the DFB team will have to play playoffs in March 2026. Nagelsmann will gather his squad next Monday in Wolfsburg.
The DFB squad at a glance:
Goal: Noah Atubolu (SC Freiburg), Oliver Baumann (TSG Hoffenheim), Finn Dahmen (FC Augsburg), Alexander Nübel (VfB Stuttgart)
Defensive: Waldemar Anton (Borussia Dortmund), Ridle Baku (RB Leipzig), Nathaniel Brown (Eintracht Frankfurt), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Felix Nmecha (Borussia Dortmund), Aleksandar Pavlović (Bayern Munich), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (Bayern Munich), Malick Thiaw (Newcastle United)
Offensive: Karim Adeyemi (Borussia Dortmund), Nadiem Amiri (FSV Mainz 05), Jonathan Burkardt (Eintracht Frankfurt), Said El Mala (1. FC Köln), Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich), Jamie Leweling (VfB Stuttgart), Leroy Sané (Galatasaray Istanbul), Kevin Schade (FC Brentford), Florian Wirtz (FC Liverpool), Nick Woltemade (Newcastle United)