A look at the country’s demographics, football history and its squad status prior to the Qatar World Cup 2022.
Number of inhabitants: approx. 83 million.
Continent: Europe
Confederation: UEFA
National Football Association: DFB
Number of members: 6.8 million (8.2% of total population)
International trophies won: 4x World Cup, 1x FIFA Confederations Cup, 3x European Championship
Best World Cup result: Champions in 1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014
Key Players
In the past: Klinsmann, Gerd Müller, Matthäus, Klose, Schweinsteiger, Lahm, Ballack.
Key current players: Kai Havertz, Leroy Sané, Ilkay Gündogan, Joshua Kimmich.
Coach, formation and possible lineup
Coach: Hansi Flick. (since 2021)
Typical formation: 4-2-3-1
Possible lineup:
- GK: Manuel Neuer (Bayern)
- LB: David Raum (RB Leipzig)
- RB: Benjamin Henrichs (RB Leipzig)
- LCB: Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid)
- RCB: Niklas Süle (Dortmund)
- DM: Joshua Kimmich (Bayern)
- DM: Ilkay Gündogan (Man City)
- LW: Leroy Sané (Bayern)
- RW: Serge Gnabry (Bayern)
- ACM: Kai Havertz (Chelsea)
- ST: Timo Werner (RB Leipzig)
Age Report
Players aged 25 or under in the current lineup: 3
Players aged 32 or over in the current lineup: 1
There is 1 player in this lineup that will (most likely) be playing their last World Cup this year: Manuel Neuer.
There are 3 players in this lineup that can play at least two more: Havertz, Raum and Henrichs.
The remaining 7 players could play in one or two more World Cups.
Youngest player: Kai Havertz, born 11 June 1999 (23)
Oldest player: Manuel Neuer, born 27 March 1986 (36)
Average squad age: 27.3
World Cup Qatar – Group E
Fixtures:
Wednesday 23 November Germany vs Japan
Sunday 27 November Spain vs Germany
Thursday 1 December Costa Rica vs Germany
Our view:
Germany breezed through their qualifiers for the upcoming World Cup. Only logical, considering their highest ranked opponent was Romania, 54th on the FIFA ranking. The UEFA Nations League provided bigger challenges this year, in Italy, Hungary and England. In 6 games, Germany only managed to get one win, a 5-2 victory at home against Italy. The rest of the matches were draws, and one loss – a 0-1 at home against Hungary. Suffice to say that the preparation for Qatar did not go as they had hoped. This does not necessarily mean a poor performance in the World Cup can be expected, however. Quite the contrary even, for a true tournament team such as Germany. The only thing they might need is a good start and they could be off for a historic run.
Our prediction is, that they will progress to the next round along with Spain, where they will meet with either Croatia or Belgium, and face elimination.
