Julian Nagelsmann made, by his own account, 62 phone calls this week. Some were to tell players they were in. Some were to tell them they were not. The most consequential call was the one he made to a 40-year-old goalkeeper who had already retired from international football.
Manuel Neuer is in the squad. He retired from the German national team in July 2024, after the European Championship on home soil. He said at the time: "Anyone who knows me knows that I didn't take this decision lightly. I feel very well physically and, of course, the 2026 World Cup would also have appealed to me. And yet I came to the decision that now is exactly the right time to end my chapter in the national team."
Two years later, the chapter has a postscript. Nagelsmann's original plan was for Marc-André ter Stegen to be his number one, but ter Stegen's long-term injury made that impossible. Oliver Baumann of Hoffenheim stepped in and played every minute of qualifying, keeping four consecutive clean sheets as Germany finished top of their group. Baumann earned the job. Nagelsmann gave it to someone else.
The decision has not been universally welcomed.
The squad
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim), Alexander Nübel (Stuttgart)
Defenders: Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Nathaniel Brown (Eintracht Frankfurt), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Waldemar Anton (Borussia Dortmund), Pascal Groß (Brighton), Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid), Malick Thiaw (Newcastle), Jonathan Tah (Bayern Munich)
Midfielders: Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Jamie Leweling (Stuttgart), Aleksandar Pavlović (Bayern Munich), Nadiem Amiri (Mainz), Felix Nmecha (Borussia Dortmund), Angelo Stiller (Stuttgart), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich)
Forwards: Kai Havertz (Arsenal), Deniz Undav (Stuttgart), Maximilian Beier (Borussia Dortmund), Florian Wirtz (Liverpool), Nick Woltemade (Newcastle), Lennart Karl (Bayern Munich), Leroy Sané (Galatasaray)
What it tells you
The spine of this squad is unmistakable: Neuer behind Rüdiger and Tah, Kimmich at right-back, Musiala and Wirtz as the creative axis, Havertz up front. That is a team capable of beating anyone in the tournament on its day. The question is whether the days in between — the group games against Curaçao and Ecuador, the knockout rounds where depth matters — reveal the gaps that sank Germany in 2018 and 2022.
The notable absentees tell their own story. Robert Andrich — one of Bayer Leverkusen's most reliable performers domestically — was cut. Niclas Füllkrug's physical hold-up style didn't fit the faster attacking shape Nagelsmann wants. Karim Adeyemi was left out after an inconsistent season at Dortmund. And Serge Gnabry, a key part of Bayern Munich's attacking rotation, misses the tournament through injury.
Florian Wirtz, now at Liverpool after his move from Leverkusen, is the face of this generation. He and Musiala — both 23, both playing at the highest level of club football — represent a creative talent pool that most nations would envy. Germany's problem has never been personnel. It has been temperament. Two consecutive group-stage exits — Russia 2018, Qatar 2022 — from squads loaded with quality. This is a four-time World Cup winner that has not won a knockout game at the tournament since 2014.
Nagelsmann's gamble on Neuer is the defining selection of this squad. If it works — if Neuer's experience and presence stabilize a defense that has been shaky for years — it will be remembered as a masterstroke. If it doesn't, the question of why a 40-year-old was chosen over a goalkeeper who earned the job through qualifying will be the first one asked.
Germany open their World Cup against Curaçao on June 14 in Houston. They face Ivory Coast on June 20 in Toronto and close the group stage against Ecuador on June 25 at MetLife Stadium.