Julian Nagelsmann, the German national team coach , confirmed his 26-man squad for the upcoming World Cup . The 38-year-old German manager surprised many by selecting Manuel Neuer , despite the fact that the 40-year-old Bayern Munich goalkeeper is set to retire from international football in 2024 and had recently promised not to return.
After winning their last World Cup in Brazil in 2014, Germany was eliminated in the group stage at Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022. The German national team will debut in the upcoming World Cup against Curaçao at NRG Stadium in Houston on June 14. Then, on June 20 at BMO Field in Toronto, they will face Ivory Coast. And they will conclude their participation in Group E against Ecuador at East Rutherford Stadium in New Jersey on June 25.
Nagelsmann's squad includes, among others, Kai Havertz (Arsenal), Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid), Florian Wirtz (Liverpool), and Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich). But the biggest surprise is the inclusion of Neuer, who had retired from international football after Euro 2024 and, for the past year, denied considering reversing that decision for this World Cup. Even last April, he remained adamant, stating that his retirement was final and wishing the team and the starting goalkeeper, Oliver Baumann of German club Hoffenheim, all the best.
This will be Neuer's fifth World Cup. His last match with the German team was almost 700 days ago, in the quarterfinals of Euro 2024, in the 2-1 defeat against Spain, who would go on to win the tournament. To replace Neuer, a World Cup winner in 2014, Nagelsmann had named Marc-André ter Stegen as goalkeeper, but the Barcelona player suffered a series of injuries (a ruptured patellar tendon at the end of September 2024, sidelining him for seven months; back surgery at the end of July 2025, also keeping him out for three months).
Germany's squad
Relegated to the bench at Barcelona, Ter Stegen joined Girona last January to get playing time, but suffered another hamstring injury in early February and hasn't returned since. At that point, without Ter Stegen, Baumann had established himself as Germany's new number one goalkeeper. Neuer, who renewed his contract with Bayern Munich for another season until 2027, was also injured, but regained his best form in the Champions League quarterfinals and semifinals against Real Madrid and PSG.
Last weekend, Neuer was substituted in the second half of the game against Cologne, in the last round of the Bundesliga, after feeling pain in his left calf, which raised doubts about his return to the four-time world champions, doubts that were dispelled by Nagelsmann this Thursday.
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