“A lot” from the World Cup formation
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With Deniz Undav and starting eleven debutant Lennart Karl, the German national team is playing its last World Cup test match before leaving for the USA. National coach Julian Nagelsmann announced the use of Stuttgart striker Undav and Bayern talent Karl for the game against Finland on Sunday (8:45 p.m./ZDF).
Nagelsmann revealed that we would “certainly see a few players” from his dream World Cup formation in the starting lineup. In the defensive midfield he plans to play with Dortmund’s Felix Nmecha, who has been injured for a long time this year, and Munich’s Aleksandar Pavlovic. “We will see a lot of that, which, if everything goes normally, could also start in the first game,” said the national coach. You don’t have “too much time in training”, so despite all the competition you have to try to “get into the rhythm quickly”.
Given the absence of Kai Havertz (Arsenal FC) due to the Champions League final, Undav, who Nagelsmann intended as a joker, can also campaign for more playing time, as can the Munich teenager Karl. The 18-year-old has appeared as a substitute twice for the national team. After a long injury break, Bayern star Jamal Musiala is looking forward to his comeback. The 23-year-old last played for the German national team in March 2025. “I’m really happy. It feels like I haven’t been there for a long time,” said the Munich native.
After the training days in Herzogenaurach and the test against Finland, the DFB team played another test match. On Tuesday the team will fly to Chicago, where the USA will be the opponent in the World Cup dress rehearsal on June 6th. Two days later the move to the World Cup team headquarters in Winston-Salem in North Carolina takes place. For a successful World Cup, “team spirit is fundamental,” emphasized sports director Rudi Völler. At the World Cup, the group opponents are Curaçao on June 14th in Houston, the Ivory Coast on June 20th in Toronto, Canada and Ecuador on June 25th in the final stadium in East Rutherford.
Nagelsmann: That’s the situation with DFB returnee Neuer
Meanwhile, Manuel Neuer sees Nagelsmann on the right track to an early comeback in the national jersey. The national coach left it unclear whether the record goalkeeper would be able to play his 125th international match at the last World Cup test against the USA in Chicago on June 6th. “Today he was running faster, looks good, has no problems, so he’s on target, everything is going well,” said Nagelsmann.
Nagelsmann brought the 40-year-old Neuer back into the DFB team after two years for a World Cup comeback. The Bayern goalkeeper is currently not ready for action due to a hardening in his left calf. On Friday, around 1,000 fans came to Herzogenaurach for an autograph session to get a signature or a photo with the record goalkeeper.
Nagelsmann still doesn’t want to take any risks. Against Finland, Oliver Baumann will once again be in goal for the DFB team, who lost his World Cup starting place due to the return campaign. Nagelsmann wants to reassess the situation in Chicago next week. Then a “diagnosis” will be made. Neuer should be ready for action by the start of the World Cup against Curaçao at the latest.
