Today's Talking Points
-
1Germany were knocked out in the group stage of both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which for the nation that reached four finals between 2002 and 2014 counts as a genuine collapse — this tournament is about proving they're back.
-
2Their young squad is built around Florian Wirtz of Bayer Leverkusen, who at 22 is considered one of the best players in Europe right now — if Germany do well, he'll be the name everyone's talking about.
-
3Germany are in Group E with Curaçao, Ivory Coast and Ecuador — Ivory Coast are a real threat, but this should be a group Germany get through, and getting knocked out again would trigger a full-scale national football inquest.
-
4They're coached by Julian Nagelsmann, who is 38 — making him one of the youngest managers at the tournament — and has been quietly rebuilding Germany's style of play after years of pragmatic, results-first football.
-
5Germany host the 2024 Euros and reached the quarter-finals before losing to Spain, which showed signs of genuine improvement — this World Cup is the next test of whether that was a blip or a rebuild.
🍺 Top Thing To Say Down The Pub
Germany got knocked out in the group stage in 2018 and 2022. This tournament is essentially a test of whether German football is fixed or still broken.
🚫 Avoid Saying
"Germany always perform at tournaments" — they literally didn't at the last two World Cups. That's a fair bit of evidence against the theory.