Julian Nagelsmann’s secrets
The three???
May 31, 2026 – 10:51 amReading time: 3 minutes
The majority of the German World Cup starting eleven is in place. But a few places are still available. Who will win the race?
Benjamin Zurmühl reports from Mainz
The German national team has already completed one World Cup these days: the UN World Cup. National coach Julian Nagelsmann revealed this with a smile on Saturday at the press conference before the German test match against Finland (from 8:45 p.m. in the live ticker on t-online). “There were several rooms being entertained by a few Uno players. Apparently it was about really big titles,” said Nagelsmann, while his neighbor Jamal Musiala laughed.
Musiala was one of the Uno players and reported: “Many people won. Leroy (Sané, editor’s note) won first, but it was funnier who lost. Once it was Flo (Wirtz), who had to do something really funny. He had to go to the coach and say something.” But Musiala and Nagelsmann kept what they had to tell him to themselves.
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The UN World Cup will be followed by the Football World Cup in two weeks. The German opening game against Curaçao will take place on June 14th, exactly two weeks from now. What the German team will look like is already becoming clear. Eight positions are more or less taken. The German starting eleven still has three question marks. Unlike in the popular radio play series, these are not called Justus Jonas, Peter Shaw and Bob Andrews, but rather defensive midfield, right winger and center forward.
Manuel Neuer will be in goal, the defense will consist of David Raum (left), Joshua Kimmich (right) and Jonathan Tah and Nico Schlotterbeck in the center. In the defensive midfield, one place goes to Aleksandar Pavlović and one row further up, Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz should become “Wusiala” like at the home European Championships in 2024. The remaining positions are more competitive.
The defensive midfield
In the 4-2-3-1 formation, in which the DFB team is roughly arranged, there is still one free place next to Aleksandar Pavlović. The favorite was Leon Goretzka, who is not a classic “six”, but brings a certain dynamism to the offensive, which the national coach appreciates. Because with Goretzka there is more danger of scoring from his own crosses, as the 31-year-old likes to push into the penalty area.
On Sunday against Finland, Felix Nmecha will play alongside Pavlović, as Nagelsmann explained. He had actually excluded this duo. At least Nagelsmann said in an interview in “Kicker” published in March when asked whether the Nmecha/Pavlović duo wasn’t a solution: “We need a slightly different profile for the more offensive part, but one of them definitely has a good chance of playing.” He wants to test them together against Finland. A rethink? It remains to be seen.
