No Kroos. No Neuer. No Gündogan. No Müller. The national team is entering a new era after the emotional European Championship at home. And they are going into the Nations League with a role model: Spain.
Julian Nagelsmann denied “withdrawal symptoms”. And yet the national coach is delighted to finally be able to live out his passion for football on the sidelines again. To coach. To cheer. To struggle. In short: to feel the adrenaline of a game. “I’m looking forward to it,” said Nagelsmann a good 27 hours before the start of the Nations League against Hungary in the Düsseldorf stadium, which will be sold out with almost 50,000 spectators on Saturday evening (8.45 p.m./ZDF).
The national team is back in action – albeit on a smaller scale than at the extremely emotionally charged European Championships at home. The journey to the title at the 2026 World Cup begins, of course, without four DFB legends. No Kroos, no Neuer, no Müller, no Gündogan. “We have a different starting eleven,” Nagelsmann also said. But overall, no different squad. “The first game after the European Championships is important to get the fans back on board,” Nagelsmann said: “I want to see the same enthusiasm to win as at the European Championships.”
World champion statement creates pressure? “No!”
64 days after the tearful defeat to eventual European champions Spain in the quarter-finals of the home tournament, the quick reunion with European Championship group opponents Hungary will see the players cheering for goals in a fairly relaxed manner and celebrating together after 90 minutes as they lap the stadium. “We want to make the European Championship a success again,” said Nagelsmann.
There are still 20 European Championship players involved in the new beginning. And the sometimes ridiculed Nations League is also being tackled ambitiously by the DFB team in its fourth edition. The goal is to reach the Final Four and win the title in 2025. Nagelsmann has at least set the bar very high for 2026. “Did it put you under pressure that I said I wanted to be world champion?” Nagelsmann promptly asked Pascal Groß, who was sitting next to him on the podium, at the press conference in response to critical comments from some football experts. “No,” replied the 33-year-old new Dortmund player.
Big for Kroos, filling jug for Gündogan
The 1018th international match in DFB history marks a turning point. The country needs new men. Nagelsmann must fill key positions in the team’s axis and give the first indications against Hungary and on Tuesday in Amsterdam against the Netherlands. How much of Kroos is there in Groß, to whom Nagelsmann has given the role of midfield strategist?
“He’s playing Pascal, not Kroos,” stressed Nagelsmann. He doesn’t want to make the Kroos rucksack any heavier for the rather quiet Groß. “I stay true to myself. I try to put my teammates in the spotlight on the pitch,” said the midfielder.
Musiala and Wirtz must continue to grow
However, there is no one-to-one replacement for Gündogan’s important role of leading the offensive around Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz and Kai Havertz. EM joker Niclas Füllkrug will move into the starting eleven for Gündogan, as Nagelsmann revealed in advance. But of course the thoroughbred striker Füllkrug will not copy Gündogan. Füllle’s job is to score goals.
The two 21-year-olds Musiala and Wirtz must continue to grow quickly, as does Havertz, who is four years older. Musiala and Gündogan scored in the 2-0 win for European Championship points against Hungary. It is also clear that the goal for Neuer, the tournament’s eternal crown prince, will be his eternal crown prince Marc-André ter Stegen. “I am glad that the waiting time is now over,” said the 32-year-old. The DFB team will also be led by new captain Joshua Kimmich.
Continue to delight the audience
A certain summer feeling should be felt again in Düsseldorf. “We won’t be able to generate the same energy as at the home European Championships,” says Füllkrug. Public viewing and over 20 million TV viewers – that is over for now. “But people should continue to identify with us, like to talk about us in a positive way, because we can use that to prepare a lot for the 2026 World Cup,” said the goalscorer.
Ideally, the Nations League will be a way of making up for what was not possible on July 5 in Stuttgart after the 1:2 defeat by a very late goal from the Spanish in extra time. “It’s a good competition – and every footballer likes to hold a trophy in their hands,” said Füllkrug. And from Nagelsmann to Kimmich and ter Stegen to Füllkrug, everyone in the DFB entourage unanimously hailed the Spanish as the DFB role model for the still young UEFA competition.
The Spaniards found the Nations League “quite cool”
Spain’s national team won the Nations League in 2023. The European Championship triumph followed in 2024. Coincidence? “I don’t want to say that it was predictable. But from the first European Championship game onwards, the Spaniards made it clear in their appearance and in their statements that they claim to be the best team,” Nagelsmann noted on the significance of the Nations League success: “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.”
Source: Stern
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
