Market value map
©IMAGO
Germany’s 2026 World Cup squad shows a clear geographical profile. A look at the birthplaces of the 26 national players in the Transfermarkt database makes it clear: the south and west of the country form the core of national coach Julian Nagelsmann’s squad. The north is represented selectively, while the east only has a few players. In terms of market value, the picture is as follows: The south is clearly ahead with 435 million euros, the west follows with 293 million euros, while the north is at 155 million euros and the east at 46 million euros.
Dortmund’s Waldemar Anton, born in Almalyk in Uzbekistan, is the only player in the DFB squad, valued at 947 million euros, who was not born in Germany. When it comes to regional origins, the south is particularly well represented. Ten of the 26 players were born in Bavaria or Baden-Württemberg. Aleksandar Pavlovic and Angelo Stiller come from Munich, Nathaniel Brown from Amberg, Jamie Leweling and David Raum from Nuremberg. BaWü also produces five national players: Jamal Musiala from Stuttgart, Nico Schlotterbeck from Waiblingen, Joshua Kimmich from Rottweil, Pascal Groß from Mannheim and Oliver Baumann from Breisach am Rhein.
The West is similarly influential. With eight players, North Rhine-Westphalia has the largest single federal state in the German World Cup squad: Florian Wirtz comes from Pulheim, Assan Ouédraogo from Mülheim an der Ruhr, Kai Havertz from Aachen, Malick Thiaw from Düsseldorf, Leroy Sané from Essen, Alexander Nübel from Paderborn, Leon Goretzka from Bochum and Manuel Neuer from Gelsenkirchen. If you add Nadiem Amiri from Ludwigshafen in Rhineland-Palatinate, the West has a total of nine players.
The north, on the other hand, is significantly less represented. Nick Woltemade was born in Bremen, Felix Nmecha and Jonathan Tah in Hamburg, Deniz Undav in Varel in Lower Saxony. Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are left empty-handed. Although the north covers different profiles – from center forward to central defender to central midfielder – in terms of breadth the region lags well behind North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg: While these federal states each have five to eight players, the entire north only has four national players.
The East plays a minor role in the current squad. Maximilian Beier was born in Brandenburg an der Havel, Antonio Rüdiger in Berlin. There are no native national players in this list from Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. This shows a clear regional imbalance, especially in comparison to North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.
DFB squad by federal state: North Rhine-Westphalia at the top
According to the federal states, a clear picture emerges: North Rhine-Westphalia is ahead with eight players. Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg follow with five each. Hamburg has two national players. Bremen, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, Berlin and Brandenburg each have one player. Several federal states are not represented at all in the 26-strong lineup.
If you also look at the current club affiliation, FC Bayern has the largest block with six players. Behind them are VfB Stuttgart with four players and Borussia Dortmund also with four professionals. RB Leipzig has two national players in Ouédraogo and Raum, as does Newcastle United in Woltemade and Thiaw.
Wirtz is under contract with Liverpool FC, Havertz with Arsenal FC, Rüdiger with Real Madrid, Sané with Galatasaray, Groß with Brighton & Hove Albion, Brown with Eintracht Frankfurt, Amiri with Mainz 05 and Baumann with TSG Hoffenheim. A total of 19 of the 26 players are active at German clubs, seven earn their money abroad.
