No Kroos. No Neuer. No Gündogan. No Müller. After the emotional European Championship at home, the national team is entering a new era in terms of personnel. They are going into the Nations League with a role model: Spain.
It’s starting again – albeit on a smaller scale. Nevertheless, the national football team’s move towards title-winning play at the 2026 World Cup is to start in style with a big thank-you game for the fans following the retirement of several DFB legends. 64 days after the tearful defeat against eventual European champions Spain in the quarter-finals of the home tournament, the Nations League will start on Saturday (8.45 p.m./ZDF) with a quick reunion with European Championship group opponents Hungary, with the cheering after goals and the players celebrating together after 90 minutes as they lap the stadium.
National coach Julian Nagelsmann has named the motto for the evening in Düsseldorf. “We want to make the European Championship complete again!” 20 European Championship players are taking part in the new beginning. And the sometimes derided Nations League will be tackled with full focus for the first time by the DFB team in its fourth edition. The goal is the Final Four and winning the title in 2025.
Continue to delight the audience
A certain summer feeling should be felt again in the Düsseldorf tournament arena. “We won’t be able to generate the same energy as at the home European Championships,” says striker Niclas Füllkrug. Public viewing and over 20 million TV viewers – that is over for now. “But people should continue to identify with us, and be happy to talk about us in a positive way, because we can use that to prepare a lot for the 2026 World Cup.”
The small UEFA competition is intended to make up for what was no longer possible on July 5 in Stuttgart after the 1:2 defeat by a very late goal by the Spaniards in extra time. “It’s a good competition – and every footballer likes to hold a trophy in their hands,” said Füllkrug. Whether Nagelsmann, the new captain Joshua Kimmich, the new number one Marc-André ter Stegen or Füllkrug: everyone is raising the Spaniards as the DFB’s role model.
The Spaniards found the Nations League “quite cool”
Spain’s national team won the Nations League in 2023. The European Championship triumph followed a year later. Coincidence? No, says Nagelsmann.
“I don’t want to say that it was predictable that Spain would win the European Championship. But they had won the Nations League before that and from the first European Championship game onwards they made it clear in their appearance and in their statements that they claim to be the best team,” explained the national coach: “You only develop such a self-image when you win games.”
Win games. And do it all in a row. That’s what it’s all about. That’s the immediate goal in the six games until the end of the year against Hungary, the Netherlands and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The first and second in the group will advance to the quarter-finals next March. “If we ask the Spaniards what they think of the Nations League that they won,” said Kimmich, then the answer is easy for the ambitious Bayern pro: “They thought it was really cool.”
The national team also wants to remain successful and attractive after winning the hearts of the fans again, even without the European Championship trophy. “We have already taken many steps. But in the end it was still only the European Championship quarter-finals,” said Nagelsmann. “We do have the ambition to do more in the future. It is our drive to constantly improve and win games. I hope we see that against Hungary.”
Musiala and Havertz must continue to grow
Some things will be different when the Frenchman Clément Turpin kicks off the match. No more Toni Kroos. No more Manuel Neuer. No more Ilkay Gündogan. No more Thomas Müller. The 1018th international match in DFB history marks a turning point. The country needs new men.
Nagelsmann will give his first indications against Hungary and on Tuesday in Amsterdam against the Netherlands. How much Kroos is there in Pascal Groß? Who will take on the role of organizing and leading the offense around Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz?
The two 21-year-olds have to grow quickly, as does Kai Havertz, who is four years older. Musiala and Gündogan scored in the 2-0 win for European Championship points against Hungary. One thing is clear: After Neuer, the eternal tournament keeper, his eternal crown prince Marc-André ter Stegen will be in goal. “I’m glad that the waiting time is now over,” said the 32-year-old.
Defence chief Rüdiger is missing
Antonio Rüdiger is missing from the new core, the new axis that Nagelsmann has to form and find. The Real Madrid defense chief is expected to recover a little after an exhausting European Championship season. “We want to have a certain core of players who will form the foundation for the World Cup,” Nagelsmann announced.
The 37-year-old’s declared goal is to become world champion in two years in the USA, Mexico and Canada. It can’t hurt to start winning trophies “in the Nations League,” said Kimmich: “We haven’t been so successful there in the past, and we want to change that.”
Source: Stern
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