First game on June 14th
©IMAGO
When ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky drew lots from outsiders Curaçao, Julian Nagelsmann couldn’t help but grin mischievously. Germany got a lucky draw in the World Cup draw and, in addition to the debutants, will also face Ecuador and the Ivory Coast in the preliminary round (read the draw again in the ticker).
A mandatory task for the World Cup, which will be held for the first time in the USA, Mexico and Canada with 48 teams. “It’s not a super easy group, but it’s a doable group,” said national coach Nagelsmann on “ZDF” after the two-hour ceremony in Washington. “We would like to win the group stage games.”
The DFB team will play its first game in the tournament in the USA, Mexico and Canada on June 14th against Curaçao under Dutch coach Dick Advocaat. The game takes place in Philadelphia or Houston. After that, they will go to either Kansas City or Toronto, Canada, for the encounter against Ivory Coast on June 20th.
“The most important thing is to get through the group phase, step by step, so that we move into the knockout phase,” said Nagelsmann at “MagentaSport”. “Don’t take the second step before the first. That also deserves respect.” But he also explained: “I think it’s also completely normal that you think about who could face you in the next rounds and who you have to beat in order to go far.” France could wait in the round of 16.
The group final against South American representatives Ecuador, whom Germany met at the home World Cup in 2006 at the end of the preliminary round, will be played on June 25th either in Philadelphia or in the final stadium in East Rutherford near New York.
