Germany World Cup squad: Can Nagelsmann get past Führich?

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After 16 months without an international match, Chris Führich was able to celebrate his DFB comeback for 29 minutes against Ghana (2-1) during the tests in March. With four scorers in the last four Bundesliga games, the Stuttgart offensive force recently gathered powerful arguments for a call-up to Julian Nagelsmann’s German World Cup squad. At VfB they publicly support their protégé – and the calls from outside are also getting louder. Can the national coach even do without Führich?

“Chris is in very good shape at the right time, not just since last week, but for months. He has a lot of influence on our offensive game, also with scorers, with facts,” confirmed Stuttgart coach Sebastian Hoeneß at the weekend after his team’s 3-3 draw in Hoffenheim, in which Führich was on the pitch for the full 90 minutes for the first time this season and scored his seventh goal.

Overall, the left winger has 14 scorer points from 31 games in the league, which means he is only one short of breaking his previous record from the 2023/24 season (eight goals, seven assists). Since the end of that season, Führich’s market value has steadily fallen from 28 million to 10 million euros. It is quite possible that things will improve again for him in this regard at the end of May in the next Bundesliga update from Transfermarkt (May 27th).

TM user “Baginski” emphasizes in the VfB forum: “Chris has to go to the World Cup. He’s keeping our offense alive at the moment. Another goal yesterday, plus a pre-assist (the ball to Leweling before the 2:3). It’s really nice that he’s found his form again. You can’t imagine leaving the first team at the moment!” And Hoeneß also echoes this sentiment: “He can help us at the World Cup. The decision lies with Julian.”

VfB sports director Fabian Wohlgemuth expressed similar optimism at the weekend about the right-footer, whose contract with the Swabians runs until 2028: “He has stood out from the good team performances in the last few weeks. That’s why I also believe that he could be a candidate for the World Cup, perhaps even more than could.”

Former national player Dietmar Hamann became even more offensive in his role as a TV expert on “Sky”: “He’s in such a good mood. He has to go to the World Cup.” It remains to be seen whether Nagelsmann will rely on Führich when the squad is announced on May 21st. The competition situation on the left rail is manageable, the starting position for the 28-year-old looks good.

DFB goal: Will Nübel still pass Baumann?

Meanwhile, another Stuttgart player could even play his way into the first eleven of the DFB selection in the last few meters: Alexander Nübel has been in better form than Hoffenheim’s Oliver Baumann by quite a few experts in recent weeks. “He showed how important he can be, that he can do something decisive in a game like this,” praised Hoeneß after the direct duel between the two keepers in the Hoffenheim game and added: “That certainly doesn’t hurt the question of who will be in goal.”