'Hopeful rather than demanding' - Germany anxious ahead of 2026 World Cup opener against Curacao in Houston

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Four-time winners Germany are set to begin their World Cup campaign on Sunday as they take on debutants Curacao in Houston.

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Under Joachim Low, Germany swept aside all contenders in 2014, but the two World Cups since then have been far more disappointing.

In 2018, they finished bottom of a group containing Sweden, Mexico and South Korea in what was an unmitigated disaster, whilst in 2022 they could manage only third behind Japan and Spain, exiting in the group stage once more.

So as manager Julian Nagelsmann prepares his side, we got in touch with Florian Bogner from Eurosport Germany to discuss how Germany as a country feel ahead of this game and the tournament as a whole.

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What is the mood in Germany as their World Cup gets underway?

Expectations are dampened simply by the fact that the last two World Cups have been disastrous. Between 1954 and 2014, Germany always made it to the quarter-finals at World Cups, but the group stage disasters in 2018 and 2022 have left German fans disillusioned, to say the least.

With Manuel Neuer, only one 2014 World Cup champion remains on the team; there’s a sense of the last stage of a transition in the team, almost a total cut, but the young, up-and-coming players haven’t delivered results yet.

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So the outlook for the first match against Curacao is hopeful rather than demanding or even arrogant: the opponent’s level offers the chance to get the tournament off to a strong start with a convincing victory.

That would be a welcome contrast to the 0-1 loss to Mexico in 2018 and the 1-2 loss to Japan in 2022. And historically, strong first matches in a tournament have often been the kickstart Germany needed for a successful tournament.

Is there faith in Julian Nagelsmann as the manager?

Not yet. Nagelsmann is recognised as a shrewd tactician; he was successful with Bayern Munich, and he shouldn’t have been let go so early - that’s the prevailing opinion.

When it comes to the national team, the promising but not entirely successful 2024 European Championship has fostered a bit of a ”wait-and-see” mentality among the public.

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The key question with Nagelsmann will be: Can he mold a team out of a group of undoubtedly talented players that fans can identify with? He sometimes seems to overthink things tactically and complicate matters. That hinders the process of building a connection with the fans in my opinion. Also his public quotes were stronger before the Euros than now.

Actually at the moment everything he plans to do seems to backfire a little bit. He chose [Bayern teenager] Lennart Karl out of the blue, willing to put him in the starting line-up - now he's injured, missing the World Cup.

He controversially called up Manuel Neuer, but then he got injured as well and will play the World Cup without any recent games under his belt, with the fear that his calf muscle can act up at any time again.

You mentioned the Neuer selection, how is that viewed in Germany?

Neuer will start, Nagelsmann promised this after the USA match. But a small percentage of doubt prevails.

The problem here isn't so much that Neuer is on the team, but rather how and when Nagelsmann communicated the decision - namely, quite late, when [Oliver] Baumann already considered himself the World Cup starter.

Baumann himself said that he didn't think it was ”okay”, but that he is fine now to put the team's interests first (he's a good guy, no doubt about that). It's also important to note that Baumann is a very good goalkeeper, but by no means an outstanding one. And at 36-years-old, he certainly doesn’t represent the future in goal for the national team.

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My personal opinion: Manuel Neuer is such a deserving goalkeeper, and if he wants to play in the World Cup again, everybody should be grateful that he is. If he can then perform at the level he did in the first leg of the Champions League match against Real Madrid, a lot is possible…

But then there still is his calf muscle. And the now even more than occasional occuring error in a match - like in the second leg against Real.

The other big debate is at striker, who starts there?

Kai Havertz will play. After a season marred by injuries, the Arsenal forward is finally fit - perhaps even in peak form, free from the strain of a full season’s workload. At least that’s what his recent appearances for Arsenal and his strong performance against the U.S. (one goal, one assist) have suggested.

With his creative playing style, Havertz is also a better fit for what Nagelsmann wants compared to Stuttgart's Deniz Undav, who is more of a ”classic striker” - that is, someone who participates less in the overall play.

Undav, although the top German Bundesliga striker and on his way to becoming a fan favorite, was also told by Nagelsmann back in March that he would have to settle for a substitute role at the World Cup. Nick Woltemade, on the other hand, isn’t even part of the equation right now. He simply hasn’t played enough for Newcastle.

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If Germany are going to win the World Cup, who will be the player that wins it for them?

Bring on the crystal ball, and I’ll take a look inside… In fact, it’s currently very hard to imagine Germany winning the World Cup.

The fans will be happy if the team even makes it to the knockout stage again, and even if they’re eliminated in the Round of 16 against France (or Norway!), they can still make fun of Italy at least.

Actually, at second glance, this squad has a lot to offer, more than you might think; but the basic idea is also that the team itself has to be the star. If Joshua Kimmich ends up lifting the World Cup trophy, he certainly wouldn’t be the wrong man to be hailed for the triumph.

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