Who could still make Julian Nagelsmann's Germany squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup?
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann’s squad for March’s games against Switzerland and Ghana is likely to be close to the one he will take to this summer’s FIFA World Cup – but who could still make the cut?
Goalkeepers
Bayern Munich prodigy Jonas Urbig got the nod alongside mainstays Oliver Baumann and Alexander Nübel for his first call-up in March, but the goalkeeping trio for the final tournament is far from settled.
Finn Dahmen
Augsburg’s Finn Dahmen was a first-choice selection in October. Germany’s U21 EURO 2021-winning goalkeeper boasts almost identical statistics to Noah Atubolu in terms of xGOT conceded – 43.3 to 43.2 – and the pair have played virtually the same number of Bundesliga games, leaving Nagelsmann to try and split them if he is looking for another ‘keeper.
Noah Atubolu
Freiburg's Atubolu actually boasts a better shots-to-saves ratio than Manuel Neuer this season – 64.2 per cent to the Bayern legend’s 60.5 – and was Nagelsmann’s choice to replace Baumann in October when the Hoffenheim veteran was forced to withdraw through illness. The 23-year-old has significant international experience with Germany’s U21 squad too, having made 22 appearances – could this summer be when he makes the step up?
Watch: The best of Noah Atubolu
Marc-Andre ter Stegen
Of course, the Germany coach will be keeping a close eye on Marc-André ter Stegen’s recovery from a hamstring injury that will keep the former Borussia Mönchengladbach and Barcelona goalkeeper on the sidelines until April. If he is fit, he will surely go to North America.
Defenders
Josha Vagnoman's recall to the squad, having played his one and only senior international under Hansi Flick in March 2023, suggests the door is open to a right-back to stake a claim to provide cover for the irrepressible Joshua Kimmich.
Ridle Baku
Baku came off the bench to replace Kimmich and scored in the 6-0 defeat of Slovakia in November. The RB Leipzig man ranks 17th league-wide for possessions won, but it is at the opposite end of the pitch where he has impressed most, with 27 chances created this season. Vagnoman has one goal and three assists this season, like Baku, but has created only 16 chances for Stuttgart.
Maximilian Mittelstädt
Maximilian Mittelstädt was handed his senior international debut by Nagelsmann in March 2024 and won 15 caps before finding himself out of the squad since watching the 3-1 defeat of Northern Ireland as an unused sub in early September 2025. While David Raum has now overtaken Mittelstädt as Nagelsmann’s first-choice left-back, Nathaniel Brown has also leapfrogged the Stuttgart man. But the Frankfurt youngster cannot be too far ahead in the pecking order given the pair share seven Bundesliga goal involvements this season. Brown’s age may count in his favour at 22, while Mittelstädt is 29, but the latter has more international and Bundesliga experience.
Matthias Ginter
Despite having a half-century of Germany caps to his name, defender Matthias Ginter is another absentee from Nagelsmann’s latest squad selection. The Freiburg man hasn’t played for his country since June 2023, when he featured as a centre-back in a 3-3 draw with Ukraine. At the age of 32, it’s a case of now or never for Ginter, whose hopes of making an international comeback will surely begin to fade after this summer’s World Cup.
Thilo Kehrer
The versatile Monaco defender's last cap for Germany came during the UEFA Nations League Finals, where he featured for the final 17 minutes of the side’s third-place play-off match against France. Despite dropping below Vagnoman in the pecking order of German right-backs, Kehrer’s status as a regular starter in Monaco means he is still in the running for the World Cup. Discipline may be a concern for Nagelsmann, however, as the 29-year-old has been sent off twice in the league this season.
Robin Gosens
Just like Kehrer, Robin Gosens’ last Germany cap came at the 2025 UEFA Nations League Final Four tournament. The wing-back came on for the final 30 minutes against Portugal in the semi-finals, but hasn’t been named in a national team squad since then. Currently playing at Fiorentina in Serie A, the 31-year-old would be something of a wildcard selection this summer, with Brown and Raum seemingly preferred on the left-hand side by Nagelsmann.
Midfield
Like virtually everywhere else on the pitch for Germany, Nagelsmann is not short of options in midfield, but there are some players who will feel they can still earn a place on the plane to the final tournament co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the US.
Assan Ouédraogo
As he only turns 20 less than a month before Germany kick off their group-stage campaign against Curaçao on 14 June, Assan Ouédraogo can rightly console himself that he has time on his side.
But after becoming the youngest debutant to score for Germany since Klaus Stürmer in October 1954 when he found the net against Slovakia in mid-November, he will have dreams of building on that sooner rather than later. A knee injury that has limited the Leipzig man to just 60 Bundesliga minutes between late November and mid-March may have put paid to his chances, but if he can refind fitness and form late in the season, don’t be surprised if he is in Nagelsmann’s thoughts.
Robert Andrich
Bayer Leverkusen enforcer Robert Andrich will be prominent among them. Another who was blooded at the highest level by Nagelsmann – aged 29 in November 2023 – Andrich was absent from the November squad and will be getting concerned about his summer plans after missing out again in March. One of the most assured in possession in the Bundesliga this season, Andrich’s 90.1 per cent successful passing rate is significantly higher than March’s surprise inclusion, Anton Stach, has managed for Leeds United in the English Premier League (78 per cent).
Watch: Robert Andrich's best goals and passes
Angelo Stiller
Angelo Stiller is another option in the centre of the pitch. The Stuttgart midfielder earned his fifth cap in the surprise 2-0 loss to Slovakia in early September 2025, and though he was called up again in October, he has now missed two successive international windows. He remains one of the first names on Sebastian Hoeneß's team sheet and has contributed a goal and five assists – from an impressive 45 chances created – this season. His creativity allied with his industry could catch Nagelsmann’s eye once again.
Nadiem Amiri
If creativity and a goal threat are what Nagelsmann wants from central midfield, then he may look no further than Nadiem Amiri. Never before has the 29-year-old reached double figures for goals in a Bundesliga season before this term, notching 10 from just 20 top-flight appearances, while adding two assists to play a central role in keeping Mainz out of the bottom three. Only five players – all bona fide forwards – have found the net more times in the German top flight this season, and he lies within the Bundesliga’s top 15 for xG despite being in a struggling side.
Amiri was recalled to the Germany squad in March 2025 after four-and-a-half years in the cold, featuring in the UEFA Nations League finals. He played again in September 2025 to take his caps tally to nine, but has not featured since. But having revived his Germany career when it was seemingly over once before, he will know it can be done again.
Tom Bischof
For Bayern midfielder Tom Bischof, who is already being lauded as a future star of German football, this summer’s World Cup might come a year too soon. The 20-year-old’s passing range has caught the eye in the Bundesliga this season, which is exemplified best by his 93.2 per cent pass completion rate. At present, he has just one Germany cap to his name, but expect that to change in the months and years to come.
Brajan Gruda
At the turn of the year, Brajan Gruda’s prospects of featuring at the World Cup looked increasingly slim due to a lack of game time at Brighton and Hove Albion. Since then, the 21-year-old midfielder has moved on loan to Leipzig, where he has already started six games. After bagging a goal and assist in just his second match back in Germany and scoring twice on Matchday 27, a strong end to the Bundesliga season may earn Gruda a seat on the plane this summer.
Forwards
Nagelsmann reportedly spoke to Bayern boss Vincent Kompany on Thursday regarding Jamal Musiala, who is still working his way back to full fitness and form following his leg fracture at the FIFA Club World Cup last summer. If he proves his fitness between now and the end of the Bundesliga season, Musiala will surely be on the plane, but who else could join him?
Karim Adeyemi
Karim Adeyemi's blistering pace is always an asset that can unsettle any defence. The Borussia Dortmund man's Bundesliga form is on a par with last season – he has six goals and three assists in 24 games this term compared to seven and six in 25 in 2024/25 – and was selected in November despite Nagelsmann knowing he would miss the first match through suspension.
The former Bayern youth player and Red Bull Salzburg striker has, however, been outscored this season by Dortmund teammate Maximilian Beier, who has eight top-flight strikes so far along with three assists. Inside the league’s top 15 for Goals vs xG (1.91), the 23-year-old took his tally to seven caps with appearances in September and October before missing out on November’s internationals.
Jonathan Burkardt
Frankfurt’s Jonathan Burkardt also came off the bench in October’s World Cup qualifying wins over Luxembourg and Northern Ireland, but watched from the bench in November before understandably losing his squad place in March. After an impressive start during which he scored nine times in his first 14 Bundesliga appearances for Frankfurt following his summer move from Mainz, a calf injury sidelined him between late November and mid-February. He has just one strike in the four games since returning, but Nagelsmann will surely have him in the reckoning, if he recaptures his eye for goal.
Saïd El Mala
There is often a surprise in a World Cup squad, and could Germany’s be 19-year-old Cologne winger Saïd El Mala. The teenager’s first Bundesliga campaign has been a major success with nine goals in his first 26 top-flight appearances. After getting a sniff of the senior squad when he was an unused substitute for the 2-0 win over Luxembourg in mid-November 2025, El Mala returned to the U21 side. He remains there after being called up for the upcoming U21 EURO 2027 qualifiers against Northern Ireland and Greece. But if he impresses in those games – and maintains his prolific streak at club level – he may have to change his summer holiday plans.
Watch: El Mala-dona's flying at Cologne
Maximilian Beier
The 23-year-old has capitalised on the patchy form of his Dortmund teammate Adeyemi to become a regular starter under Niko Kovač this season. With a record of eight goals and six assists in 24 Bundesliga matches this term, the calls for him to return to the national team have grown steadily of late. However, Beier, who can play just about anywhere across the forward line, is yet to start a game under Nagelsmann, having only been used as a late sub in his seven previous caps.
Niclas Füllkrug
At Euro 2024, Niclas Füllkrug became a key member of Germany’s squad after scoring twice in Germany's five games on home soil. However, after several injury setbacks and a failed move to West Ham United, the 33-year-old’s chances of doing something similar at the World Cup look remote. A loan move to AC Milan has revived his prospects somewhat, although it remains to be seen whether his record of one goal in 13 Serie A games will be enough to force his way back into Nagelsmann’s plans.
Tim Kleindienst
Borussia Mönchengladbach forward Tim Kleindienst has been out of action all season due to a knee injury. It could hardly have come at a worse time for the forward, who, prior to the setback, had scored four goals in six international matches for Germany. With that record in mind, a return to the national team is a distinct possibility if the 30-year-old can get back to full fitness – and get back among the goals for Gladbach.
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