The 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico still seems quite far away. But not for Julian Nagelsmann. The national coach talks about his “master plan” for the big title goal.
The national players who will be nominated for the upcoming international matches in October and November can have high hopes of participating in the 2026 World Cup. The main part of the “master plan” up to the finals in the USA, Mexico and Canada is “to find a team with five or six top substitutes who can also play in the World Cup,” said national coach Julian Nagelsmann during a discussion at the “Digital X” trade fair in Cologne.
The DFB selection will play in the Nations League in October in Bosnia-Herzegovina and against the Netherlands. “I don’t get anything out of letting a team A play that wins the Nations League and then everyone is 35 or 36, and a completely different team plays at the World Cup that then only has four games to prepare for,” said Nagelsmann. It is already about “gaining a certain rhythm and a certain self-understanding of what it means to win games.”
Use every minute until the World Cup
If Germany takes part in the final tournament in the Nations League next summer, there are only 20 games left until the World Cup, for which the DFB selection has to qualify. “Half a season,” said Nagelsmann. “We made that clear to the players. We have to use every minute, that is a very important part of the master plan.” Even if it will be “intense” for the players, who have to play a lot of games.
Germany successfully played its first games after the European Championship at home against Hungary (5:0) and in the Netherlands (2:2). “We won’t change too much because the group is just very, very harmonious,” said Nagelsmann, who had to restructure after the European Championship following the retirements of goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, Thomas Müller, Toni Kroos and captain Ilkay Gündogan.
In Cologne, the national coach repeated his big goal. “For all the experts: We want to become world champions, not: We will be world champions,” said Nagelsmann. “That is a big difference. We want to give everything for that, and I am confident that we can achieve it.”
Source: Stern
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