2014 World Cup Winner, 4 times World Cup winner looking for their 5th World Cup triumph will be going into the tournament as one of the favorites. They are in E alongside 2010 World Cup Winner Spain, Japan, and Costa Rica, all equally strong in their own right, but Spain would be the toughest opponent. While their former manager, Joachim Löw who is also the longest-serving manager in the national team's history with 198 matches managed is now replaced by his former assistant, and a sextuple winner with Bayern Munich, Hansi Flick. He is known for his man-management & innovative modern tactics which helped unlock the best of players like Joshua Kimmich, Serge Gnabry, Robert Lewandoski, Thomas Muller, and, Alphonso Davies which he will be hoping to do the same with the national team. While Germany isn't similar to their squads of 2010 or 2014t they'll be hoping to not repeat the 2018 debacle. They had one of the safest groups with South Korea, Sweden, and Mexico which saw their favorites, but they could do nothing. 2-0 loss to South Korea, 1-0 loss to Mexico, and a 2-1 win over Sweden. The only positive was that beautiful free kick against Sweden by Toni Kroos.
While they have some of the best names which biggest regards go to Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, and other Bundesliga clubs responsible for molding & developing young talents like Jamal Musiala who would take care of Germany for the coming decade along with hopefully a long list of players who will possibly be trying for their 5th or 6th or even 7th World Cup. Anyhow, for this edition of the 2022 World Cup, these are the name we feel have the strongest candidacy.
Goalkeeper
Our Pick: Manuel Neuer
At 36, he is still our starting Goalkeeper. If he's playing even at the 2026 World Cup, we would still pick him, because honestly, he is one of the greatest goalkeepers to ever play the game. It's saying something when we have names like Oliver Kahn, Iker Casillas, Peter Schmeichel, Edwin van der Sar, Victor Valdes, Gianluigi Buffon, Fabien Barthez, etc. He made his debut back in 2009 and played in the 2010 World Cup for some of the luckiest & unluckiest reasons. After the retirement of two of the biggest names Oliver Kahn (2006) and Jens Lehmann (2008), he was made into the national team deputizing as a 3rd choice keeper behind Robert Enke and Rene Adler. Unfortunately, Enke passed away, he was widely considered to be the starting Goalkeeper for the 2010 World Cup while Rene Adler had an injury that kept him out of the squad. Manuel Neuer was chosen as the starter over Tim Wiese and Hans-Jörg Butt. He played every match except for the third-place match. He conceded just 1 goal in the group stages and 1 goal against England in the Round of 16, and was commended by the manager for being a brilliant player. It was followed by a sensational performance during Euro 2012 which eventually followed into World Cup 2014 which he won, and individually also won Golden Glove.
His deputy for this edition with question or doubt would be Barcelona's Marc Andre-Ter Stegen and Eintracht Frankfurt's Kevin Trapp. Both of them are sensational goalkeepers, in many regards, two of the absolute best, and if not for Manuel Neuer, both would've fought regularly for the starting berth. Several pundits and experts always have thought that Marc Andre Ter-Stegen has been one of the best goalkeepers, sometimes even better than Manuel Neuer with Barcelona, especially during the 2015 Sextuple winning season. At 30 years of age, he still has a chance of making it to at least another 2 world cup, if he manages to keep his fitness and form intact.
5 names who would, unfortunately, miss out are Hoffenheim's Oliver Baumann, Fulham's Bernd Leno, VFL Bochum's Manuel Reiman, Stuggart's Florian Müller, and Manchester City's Stefan Ortega.
UEFA League of Nation update: Last game before the World Cup, Hansi Flick played Marc Andre-Ter Stegen against England with Oliver Baumann and Kevin Trapp as the deputies. Manuel Neuer was in COVID-19 Isolation and played last against Hungary a week earlier in the match.
Defenders
Our Pick: Thilo Kehrer, Niklas Sule, Antonio Rudiger, Robin Gosens
Philip Lahm, when we say this name, we remember that 5'7" Right Back who captained both Germany & Bayern Munich to several trophies without getting a single red card. When we say that name, we honor one of the best right back to have ever played the game. When Joshua Kimmich came in as the replacement, we thought we have a proper successor but sadly enough he became more of a midfielder, one of the best at that, but that right-hand spot is still in competition waiting for a like-to-like replacement. Anyhow, the best option Germany possesses is PSG's Thilo Kehrer, he ain't no Lahm but he is a good player who wouldn't disappoint. The starting pair in the center would be Borussia Dortmund's Nicklas Sule and Real Madrid's Antonio Rudiger. One is a beast and another one is an aggressor, one is someone you'll be afraid of playing against and the other won't let you play. In the last 24 months, Antonio Rudiger has been one of the best center-back for Chelsea which landed him the move to Real Madrid while Nicklas Sule had injury issues, whenever fit, he has given his 200% on the pitch. On the left side, we have some competition between Inter Milan's Robin Gosens and RB Leipzig's David Raum, but our pick would be Nezzuri man, Gosens. He is a bit more experienced, mature, and better than Leipzig man, but Flick can start either one.
Other names we would consider are Benjamin Henrichs, Mattias Ginter, Armel Bella-Kotchap, Nico Scholtterbeck, and David Raum. Alternatively, our 2 backups would be Lukas Klostermann and Christian Gunter.
The names we snub from the side are Mats Hummels, Niklas Stark, Marcel Hastenberg, nico Schulz, Jonathan Tah, Robin Koch, and Riddle Baku.
UEFA League of Nations Update: Thilo Kehrer and David Raum started as the fullbacks along with Nico Schlotterbeck and Nicklas Sule as the two centers back. On the bench were, Mattias Ginter, Benjamin Henrichs, Robin Gosens, and Armel Bella-Kotchap of which the last two came off the bench in for David Raum at 68th Minute and Kai Havertz at 91st Minute respectively against England,
Midfielder
Our Pick: Joshua Kimmich, Leon Gorektza, Thomas Muller
We would be playing a traditional 4-2-3-1 with our squad, which we predict would be the choice for Hansi Flick as well. We will be focusing on the midfield 3 and would consider the Left & Right Midfielders as forwards. 3 names who are carrying Bayern Munich and Germany since their debut, especially Thomas Muller. We would talk about him a bit later, first the duo of Joshua Kimmich and Leon Gorektza. One is a resident Hulk of Allianz Arena and the other is a smart man who knows just to be where at the right time and right position. Leon won't let you go past the center line and would act as a third center back at times while Kimmich possesses far superior passing range & dribbling skills than most of the defensive midfielders. He is one of the best Defensive Midfielder currently and has been for the last 4-5 years. Making his move from RB Leipzig when they were just in the 2nd League, and he has to be one of the smartest moves who has often been seen as Phillip Lahm's successor. Leon Gorektza came 3 years later in 2018 from Schalke, and together they formed one of the best partnerships in World Football which helped Bayern Munich maintain their unparalleled dominance and win the Sextuple. Lastly, Heart of the team and the Captain, Thomas Muller. 2010 World Cup Golden Boott and Young Player of the Tournament Winner, 2014 World Cup Silver Ball and Silver Boot, Dream Team XI and World Cup Team of the Tournament, only guy to match Messi's record of 21 assists in a season, Bundesliga's most assists with 157 Assists, and 228 Goals as One Man Club Man, the self-proclaimed Raumdeuter or Space Interpreter/Investigator, and the funniest footballer. Not to say 32 trophies, making him the most decorated German player. 1 World Cup, 2 Champions League, 11 Bundesliga speaks for himself. Often considered one of the best midfielders to ever play, and often considered one of the best German Players. As underrated as he is when talked amongst Paul Scholes, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Xavi, Luka Modric, Andres Iniesta, and Ricardo Kaka just because he is not flashy enough or making it so easy that people don't rate him, Thomas Muller should've won a lot more.
Our Backup would be, Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus if he is fit enough for the World Cup or sadly, one of the best players of this generation could have seen might be injured for another major tournament, him and his luck. Well, the other name is Jamal Musiala, one of the best young players Germany and Europe possess currently and one of the favorites to win the Gold Boy Award. Along with him would be Manchester City's Ilkay Gundogan, Borussia Monchengladbach's Jonas Hoffman, Chelsea's Kai Havertz (we are equally confused if he is a forward or a midfielder), Wolfburg's Maximillian Arnold, and Borussia Dortmund's Julian Brandt.
The snubs are Emre Can, Mario Gotze, Julian Draxler, Florian Wirtz, Julian Weigl, Florian Neuhaus, and Anton Stach. One name we would've included yet another time, if he wouldn't had chosen retirement is 32 y/o World Cup winner and 5 times UCL winner, Toni Kroos.
UEFA League of Nations Update: With Leon Gorektza in isolation, Joshua Kimmich started alongside Ilkay Gundogan in 4-2-3-1 with Jamal Musiala as the No. 10, with Thomas Muller replacing Musiala at the 79th Minute. Jamal Musiala helped concede the penalty off Harry Maguire's foul with Ilkay Gundogan converting it into a goal.
Forwards
Our Pick: Leroy Sane, Timo Werner, Serge Gnabry
As we mentioned before, we are considering the right & left-sided midfielder/wingers as forwards, hence mentioning here a traditional 4-3-3. Our pick is Bayern Munich's pair Leroy Sane and Serge Gnabry. Since Robert Lewandoski has left, Gnabry has picked up his pace even better than before alongside Sadio Mane, while with the country, he has been in fine form. 20 Goals from 35 Caps for Serge Gnabry not only make him an experienced player but also one of the most important. He will be one of the lead players who'll find an opening and try to score every goal possible from both short and long range. On the other flank would be former Manchester City's Leroy Sane who has 11 Goals in 46 Matches. While he's not a poacher or a goal scorer like Gnabry, he is a guy with insane speed and dribbling skills combined with accurate crossing. With the frontmen being RB Leipzig's Timo Werner who has 24 Goals in 54 Matches, these 3 blessed with their speed, crossing, and interlinking... they would hope for an end number of goals.
Other names on the list could be Karim Adeyemi and Lukas Nmecha. While Kai Havertz, Jonas Hoffman. and Thomas Muller would act as forward going in the squad. With both Kai Havertz and Thomas Muller being able to play as a striker or as No. 10. Borrusia Dortmund's Karim Adeyemi is just 20 years old with only 1 goal in 4 matches, he has scored 34 goals in 99 matches along with 24 Assist for Borussia Dortmund and RB Salzburg. He will surely be a brilliant backup to Timo Werner.
UEFA League of Nations Update: Kai Havertz started as a striker with Jonas Hoffman and Leroy Sane on the flanks. Timo Werner replaced Jonas Hoffman at halftime followed by Serge Gnabry replacing Leroy Sane at the 68th Minute and Armel Bella-Kotchap replacing Kai Havertz at the 91st Minute. Kai Havertz scored a brace with Timo Werner assisting the first goal.
Hansi Flick has one of the biggest task, replicate his form that he has shown with bayern Munich, now with Germany. On Paper, this team seems more complete than most of the teams, but it has its evils, the first of which is to recover from 2018 nightmares, and the other to beat Spain & Japan.
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