Nagelsmann on RTL-Mirko: “Group not too easy”
Dec 5, 2025 11:16 p.m. | 2:00m
Germany will face Curacao, Ivory Coast and Ecuador at the 2026 World Cup. National coach Julian Nagelsmann assessed the lots on the RTL microphone.
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Not a super easy group, but a group that is doable for us. As long as we arrive here in good shape and throw everything in. Of course we have the situation where we didn’t get a European drawn, which is sometimes a bit easier in preparation because you’re more used to simply having this style of football as an opponent. We have Team Ecuador, they were second in their qualifying group in South America, which was of course very, very close overall, with a one point difference between second place and sixth or seventh place. So that was super super tough. The group is a team with Kaispacho Hincapie, who have a lot of good games, who are also key players in their clubs in top European leagues. Ivory Coast is currently the Africa Cup winner, which is also an absolute sign of quality and will challenge us. Curacao is a bit of a surprise bag. From our group you can’t predict 100% what they will actually be like in terms of quality. But they qualified and are at the World Cup, have a super experienced coach, and have a lot of players who were born in the Netherlands and trained in the Netherlands. We know how extremely good Dutch football training is. An opponent will also challenge us as a group where we have to show a good performance straight away in order to get into the high phase. But that’s what I wanted too. I don’t like it when it’s too easy. I also don’t like it when it’s too heavy. I think this is a good middle ground. However, it is important that we take the first step before the second.
Yes, we are not in Europe here, we are in the USA. Everyone knows that show is a big topic here. So it really shouldn’t surprise anyone how this is happening. We know this from the Super Bowl and other sporting events. So that didn’t surprise me at all. Somehow belongs to the USA. We will experience that at the World Cup too. Such, such interludes and shows, that’s the culture here. And you have to take note of that. This is the World Cup, where you have to deal with very different people and people and and and.