Ranking since the European Championship title in 1996
At least for one person involved, the 4-1 defeat against Japan had something positive: Pascal Groß celebrated his debut in the German national team jersey as a late bloomer. The professional from Brighton & Hove Albion made his debut at the age of 32 years, two months and 25 days as a joker for national coach Hansi Flick, who brought him on for Emre Can in the 64th minute.
With Groß & Füllkrug: Oldest DFB debutants since the European Championship title in 1996
Martin Max | 33 years 8 months 10 days | Debuted on April 17, 2002
“I’ll just try to fulfill my role when I get minutes,” said the Mannheim native before his first appearance. The veteran wants to “put himself at the service of the team and try to showcase my teammates as best I can.”
Since the last European Championship title win in 1996, Flick and his predecessors Joachim Löw, Jürgen Klinsmann, Rudi Völler, Erich Ribbeck and Berti Vogts have tried out newcomers of every age group. Groß is among the three oldest debutants in this period. There are eight center forwards in the top 20, including Niclas Füllkrug (BVB) since November 2022, and four goalkeepers – the oldest debutant, Martin Max, was almost 34 years old (for debutant statistics).
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