National coach Julian Nagelsmann has appointed 27 players including tournament veterans Toni Kroos and Thomas Müller to the provisional squad for the European Football Championship. As expected, long-standing national players such as Dortmund’s Mats Hummels and Munich’s Leon Goretzka as well as the currently injured Bayern attacker Serge Gnabry are missing from the DFB squad, which the 36-year-old named on Thursday in the final venue of Berlin.
With the squad for the home tournament, Nagelsmann is continuing the direction decisions he made before the successful international matches in March against France (2-0) and the Netherlands (2-1). The only new players are Munich’s Leroy Sané, who was suspended at the time, Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterbeck and Stuttgart goalkeeper Alexander Nübel.
The final European Championship squad, which must be reported to UEFA by June 7 (midnight), may contain a maximum of 26 players. Nagelsmann must therefore cut at least one player. The four goalkeepers will be at the European Championship, as Nagelsmann confirmed. Host Germany will open the European Championship finals on June 14 in Munich against Scotland. The final will take place on July 14 in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.
In a unique multimedia announcement by the DFB, 18 European Championship drivers had already been announced since Sunday, including captain Ilkay Gündogan, regular goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and tournament newcomers such as Florian Wirtz from champions Bayer Leverkusen and Aleksandar Pavlovic from FC Bayern. Nine more players were added in Berlin. In addition to Kroos, Müller and Nübel, these are the goalkeepers Marc-André ter Stegen and Baumann as well as the outfield players Jamal Musiala, Waldemar Anton, Benjamin Henrichs and also Hoffenheim’s attacker Maximilian Beier. Only twelve players from the 26-man squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar are back.
Sports director Rudi Völler reported in Berlin that there were “of course cases of hardship.” From the Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund, only striker Niclas Füllkrug and defender Nico Schlotterbeck are there, but alongside veteran Hummels there is also no Julian Brandt. FC Bayern has six players, followed by VfB Stuttgart with five players. Three of the champions Bayer Leverkusen are represented: Florian Wirtz, Jonathan Tah and Robert Andrich. Six players around captain Gündogan play for clubs abroad.
Nagelsmann gathers the DFB squad in Blankenhain on May 26th. However, the Champions League finalists Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund will completely miss the first part of the European Championship preparations in Thuringia. On June 3rd, the national team will play a friendly against Ukraine in Nuremberg. The European Championship dress rehearsal follows four days later in Mönchengladbach against Greece. In addition to Scotland, the DFB team’s other group opponents are Hungary on June 19th in Stuttgart and Switzerland on June 23rd in Frankfurt.
The provisional European Championship squad:
Goal: Manuel Neuer (FC Bayern Munich), Marc-André ter Stegen (FC Barcelona), Oliver Baumann (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim), Alexander Nübel (VfB Stuttgart)
Defense: Joshua Kimmich (FC Bayern Munich), Robin Koch (Eintracht Frankfurt), Maximilian Mittelstädt (VfB Stuttgart), Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen), David Raum (RB Leipzig ), Waldemar Anton (VfB Stuttgart), Benjamin Henrichs (RB Leipzig)
Midfield: Robert Andrich (Bayer Leverkusen), Chris Führich (VfB Stuttgart), Pascal Groß (Brighton
Attack: Niclas Füllkrug (Borussia Dortmund), Kai Havertz (FC Arsenal), Deniz Undav (VfB Stuttgart), Thomas Müller (FC Bayern Munich), Maximilian Beier (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim)
