• The question “How many World Cups are there in the DFB squad?” Dominik Rosing and Pit Gottschalk answer in the video above.

When a squad is nominated, those who are there stand out. And those who are not there. The latter perhaps even a little more so.

Of the eleven DFB losers, Füllkrug, Adeyemi and Stiller are the most prominent names

Eleven stars are losers in national coach Julian Nagelsmann’s selection shortly before the World Cup, namely: Niclas Füllkrug, Karim Adeyemi, Angelo Stiller, Maximilian Beier, Jonathan Burkardt, Robin Cook, Ridle Baku, Finn Dahmen, Noah Atubolu, Said El Mala and Robert Andrich.

We have to differentiate. What is particularly noticeable is the absence of Füllkrug, Adeyemi and Stiller.

filling juga German European Championship 2024 protagonist, was loaned to AC Milan from West Ham United in the winter and has only managed one goal since then. In Italy, the 33-year-old striker is only a reserve, which is why, despite his type of player as the perfect joker (and although Nagelsmann appreciates him), the World Cup is now going to be tight.

Adeyemi can point to 9 goals and 5 assists in 35 competitive games for BVB, which are decent to good values ​​- but not outstanding. His problem is consistency at the highest level and too many construction sites outside of football (keyword: “mystery box”). A youngster like Bayern’s Karl means acute competition for positions.

Stiller is once again playing a convincing season in Stuttgart as a top performer. Nevertheless, many people thought of him when Nagelsmann announced some decisions in his almost famous “Kicker” interview “that probably did not meet with great understanding.” Stiller’s last international match was a bitter one: the 2-0 defeat in Slovakia in September.

Beier as the next BVB dispute – two goalkeepers can hope

Another BVB dispute is Beierwho has almost identical stats to Adeyemi (36 appearances, 9 goals, 7 assists). The offensive force watched the two decisive World Cup qualifying games in November from the bench, and so far Beier has not scored a goal for the national team.

Frankfurt Burkardt has a strong 11 goals in 21 competitive games, a calf injury put him out of action; Since his comeback in February, the attacker has remained rather pale. Club colleague Cook completed the entire Nations League tournament in 2025, including 90 minutes against Northern Ireland in September. At the same time, his Eintracht season is extremely mixed, or more precisely: extremely unstable for a central defender.

Bakua clear regular in Leipzig, has always been on the pitch in the last four international matches, but only once over the full distance. The crux for him: Joshua Kimmich will play as a right-back at the World Cup, Nagelsmann has already decided on that.

The two substitute goalkeepers Dahmen (Augsburg) and Atubolu (Freiburg) have another rival in Urbig in the “battle” for number three behind Oliver Baumann and Alexander Nübel. Nagelsmann is a fan of four goalkeepers in the squad, so both Dahmen and Atubolu still have realistic World Cup prospects.

El Mala was still found to be too easy, Andrich was left out

Things might be different with Cologne El Mala look, who accumulated an impressive 9 goals and 4 assists in 28 competitive games, but was sent back to the U21 early by the DFB trial course in the fall. El Mala (19) is one for the future, weighed and probably still found to be too light.

Andrew again has parallels to Füllkrug: a surprising pillar in the team at the home European Championships, currently left out.

Last year, Leverkusen’s captain was a regular member of the DFB squad, but in the autumn he only played for three minutes against Northern Ireland. Nagelsmann prefers four alternatives in Aleksandar Pavlovic, Leon Goretzka, Felix Nmecha and comebacker Groß. From Andrich’s point of view, that’s at least one too many.

A kind of special case is Gladbach’s Tim Kleindienst, who was considered the preferred center forward a year ago, but was then out for a miserable long time (meniscus, knee). Meanwhile, Kleindienst’s hope for a World Cup ticket is very, very small. Actually, let’s be honest, it no longer exists.