Germany name World Cup squad: Manuel Neuer returns, Kai Havertz in, Serge Gnabry out

Neuer has reversed his retirement decision to rejoin Germany this summer Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images Share article1Julian Nagelsmann has named his 26-man Germany squad for the World Cup. Nagelsmann has sprung a major surprise, selecting Manuel Neuer for the tournament, despite the Bayern Munich goalkeeper, now 40, retiring from international duty in 2024 and pledging as recently as last month that he would not be returning. Leroy Sane is included, despite his historic indifferent form for the national team, while there are also call ups for Premier League players Florian Wirtz, Nick Woltemade, Kai Havertz, Pascal Gross and Malick Thiaw. Leeds United’s Anton Stach, who was part of the squad during the recent March internationals, has been omitted. Germany will be hoping for a far stronger showing this summer. Having won the last of their World Cups in 2014, they were eliminated in the group stage in 2018 and 2022. They will begin their tournament against Curacao in Houston on June 14, before facing Ivory Coast (Toronto, June 20) and Ecuador (New Jersey, June 25) to complete their fixtures in Group E. Niclas Fullkrug’s form has been in sharp decline since leaving Borussia Dortmund for West Ham — via a difficult loan with AC Milan — so his omission is no surprise. Leaving Stuttgart’s Chris Fuhrich out is contentious. Fuhrich is a stylish winger who has had a good season in the Bundesliga and who possesses an intricate, out-to-in threat that Germany do not otherwise possess, so that might be Nagelsmann’s biggest and least popular call. Robert Andrich has proven himself a versatile and useful squad member over the last few years and Nagelsmann was expected to select him as a security option, adding extra cover to his midfield and defence, but he has not made it either. Nor is there room for Karim Adeyemi. The Borussia Dortmund forward has been struggling with injury in recent weeks, but — even had he not been — it’s questionable whether his form this season would really have warranted a call-up. Mainz playmaker Nadiem Amiri is on the plane, deservedly, after a fine season. Without Amiri, Mainz would likely have been relegated this year, so he has taken the hard road to this World Cup. The big news, however, is Manuel Neuer’s return. He retired from international duty after the 2024 European Championship and, over the past year, has consistently denied that he was considering reversing that decision for this World Cup. Even as a recently as April, Neuer was adamant, saying that his retirement was “set in stone” and that he wished the squad — and incumbent goalkeeper Oliver Baumann — well for the summer. But Neuer is back for what will be his fifth World Cup. Elsewhere, the inclusion of Lennart Karl, Bayern’s precocious teenage attacker, was expected but not quite certain. That will be popular with a sporting public eager for the national team to carry a wildcard and to see more of a player generally considered to be the country’s biggest hope for the next generation. There will be less enthusiasm for Leroy Sane, whose selection will be deemed a case of reputation over form, a tendency Nagelsmann is regularly accused of deferring to. As a case in point, Sane has always been rather theoretical for Germany. His performances for the national team have been meagre and his form for Galatasaray this season did not make a strong case for his making the cut, either, meaning that Sane’s showing during the tournament will attract much scrutiny. Serge Gnabry. He suffered a season-ending injury following Bayern’s Champions League quarter-final tie with Real Madrid and will be a big miss, particularly given his resurgence under Vincent Kompany. What is the one problem the manager needs to solve? The German defence has suffered a difficult couple of years. Joshua Kimmich and David Raum will start in the full back roles, but Nagelsmann has to find a balance in the middle, selecting two from Antonio Rudiger, Nico Schlotterbeck and Waldemar Anton, with Newcastle United’s Malick Thiaw as a supplementary option. There’s no perfect combination. Each “two” has different strengths and weakness. But Germany’s success at the tournament depends — arguably — more on that decision than any other. The Germans will face Finland in Mainz on May 31, before a final warm-up against the U.S. at Chicago’s Soldier Field on June 6. Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim), Alexander Nubel (Stuttgart) Defenders: Joshua Kimmich (captain, Bayern Munich), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Jonathan Tah (Bayern Munich), Waldemar Anton (Borussia Dortmund), Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid), Nathaniel Brown (Eintracht Frankfurt), Malick Thiaw (Newcastle United) Midfielders: Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Florian Wirtz (Liverpool), Lennart Karl (Bayern Munich), Angelo Stiller (Stuttgart), Aleksandar Pavlovic (Bayern Munich), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich), Leroy Sane (Galatasaray), Felix Nmecha (Borussia Dortmund), Nadiem Amiri (Mainz), Pascal Gross (Brighton and Hove Albion) Forwards: Kai Havertz (Arsenal), Deniz Undav (Stuttgart), Jamie Leweling (Stuttgart), Nick Woltemade (Newcastle United), Maximilian Beier (Borussia Dortmund) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms