Brown or space on the left? Nmecha or Goretzka on the double six? And what about Undav and Ouédraogo? Before the German national team’s opening game in the 2026 World Cup, the Sportschau experts look ahead and nominate their dream eleven.
On Sunday (7 p.m. CEST live on ARD and on sportschau.de) the DFB team starts the 2026 World Cup against Curacao. The opening hurdle seems grateful. Curacao is 82nd in the FIFA world rankings and is a massive outsider against the four-time world champions. Personal experiments are therefore not to be expected from national coach Julian Nagelsmann. The roles and almost all positions are clearly distributed.
Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Hitzlsperger and Almuth Schult also see a solid core of players set for the tournament. This also means, for example, that the returning Manuel Neuer should be in goal. There are still a few contested positions, especially at left full-back, the double six and in attack. The lineups of the two sports show experts and the expert at a glance:
Schweinsteiger relies on Sané and Brown
For Schweinsteiger, Nathaniel Brown has the edge over David Raum on the left side of defense. Joshua Kimmich, Jonathan Tah and Nico Schlotterbeck are in the back four, as expected.
Nagelsmann had recently trusted the two inexperienced Aleksander Pavlovic and Felix Nmecha in the double six, Schweinsteiger would also line up the duo and leave Leon Goretzka out accordingly. In the 2014 world champion’s 4-2-3-1 system, Leroy Sané, Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz form the offensive behind the hanging leader Kai Havertz.
Hitzlsperger with VfB duo in attack
Hitzlsperger also relies on Kimmich, Tah and Schlotterbeck in defense. Unlike Schweinsteiger, he gives the full-back space on the left but gives preference to Brown, as the Leipzig player’s standard qualities will probably also be important against Curacao.
In front of the back four, Pavlovic and Nmecha should distribute the balls and provide the necessary protection. Things get interesting on the offensive: Musiala and Wirtz are also there in the former Stuttgart player’s preferred 4-2-2-2, but Havertz and Sané are missing. Instead, Hitzlsperger would let Deniz Undav and Nick Woltemade play, with VfB striker Undav playing a bit ahead of his former teammate.
Schult surprises with replacement Ouédraogo
Former keeper Schult sees Brown in the back four with space. In addition, Goretzka should play alongside Nmecha in the double six instead of Pavlovic, as the long-time Bayern professional brings a physical component to his style of play that could be important against Curacao.
For Schult there is no way around Wirtz and Havertz on the offensive. The big surprise in their 4-2-3-1 is the inclusion of Ouédraogo on the right. The youngster from RB Leipzig, who was called up to replace the injured Lennart Karl, brings a certain level of playful ease, said Schult. Undav is in the squad as the striker. He has recently impressively demonstrated his goalscoring qualities.