Germany went out in the group stage at both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which by German standards counts as a national embarrassment. Julian Nagelsmann has since built a new side around the two most exciting young attackers in world football. Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala play as if they share a telepathic link. On home soil at Euro 2024, Germany reached the quarter-finals, and now they want more.
Kai Havertz completes the front line.
Can Wirtz and Musiala win Germany a fifth title?
They are the reason to believe it. Wirtz, a generational talent at 22 who made his name at Bayer Leverkusen, dribbles, passes and scores at an extraordinary level. Musiala is a Bayern Munich magician whose close control lets him walk past whole defences. Between them they create chances from nothing and score goals that look like they belong in a video game.
Havertz has become a prolific striker at Arsenal and adds finishing to all that creativity. Nagelsmann has given the team a new identity built on attacking, pressing football, the style they showed at Euro 2024.
And then there is the history. Germany have won the World Cup four times, and few nations carry that kind of winning mentality.
The one thing to fix is the defensive balance. If Nagelsmann gets that right, Germany could win a fifth title and draw level with Brazil at the top of the all-time list.
Tomorrow: number 4.
