“Don’t meet with super-great understanding”
National coach Nagelsmann announces World Cup surprises
March 1, 2026 – 11:05 p.mReading time: 3 minutes
For the national coach, the crucial phase of preparation for the World Cup is coming up. Julian Nagelsmann has a plan – but not everyone might like it.
Joshua Kimmich remains at right-back, Oliver Baumann is number one and Leon Goretzka has a regular place: Julian Nagelsmann has decided on important personnel before the start of the World Cup year, but at the same time announced surprises in the squad. “There will be decisions, I can already reveal that, that will probably not be met with great understanding. Not by the player, but not by the general public either, because there may be a player who is not planned for us in the first eleven, but who is a regular player and top performer at his club,” said Nagelsmann in the “Kicker” interview.
The 38-year-old will therefore be without some well-known names at the World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada (June 11th to July 19th). “You have to pay extreme attention to how a player deals with it if he is ranked 15th or 16th in our squad, even though he is considered a top 6 man at his club. Can a player who is a regular at the club grow into such a role with us or not,” said Nagelsmann and continued: “There are players who cannot fulfill this role well for us. And as I emphasized before the European Championships, it is not about a good or a bad character, but it is about who is made for which position.”
Nagelsmann therefore did without Leon Goretzka, among others, at the 2024 European Championship at home. The Munich player now has a different role in the double six in the DFB selection. “As of now, Leon Goretzka, despite having less playing time at Bayern, will have a good chance of playing and having a similar role to the one he played in the World Cup qualifiers. Because he is someone who also plays in the box, is strong in the air and has good power,” explained Nagelsmann.
From the national coach’s point of view, Aleksandar Pavlović and Felix Nmecha do not complement each other perfectly. “We need a slightly different profile for the more offensive part, but one of the two definitely has a good chance of playing,” said Nagelsmann, who misses “a really stable, strong six in Germany – even in the air.”
Captain Kimmich will play at right back. “Yes, it stays that way,” confirmed Nagelsmann. In goal, he relies on Hoffenheim’s Baumann, even if he leaves a back door open for the injured Marc-André ter Stegen. “Of course Oli will be in goal in March and will make amends. I already said at the draw for the Nations League that one component is with Marc and the other is that Oli has done extremely well,” said Nagelsmann.
