Mario Götze is making his comeback at the World Cup after five years without an international match. National coach Hansi Flick nominated the 30-year-old from Frankfurt on Thursday, as well as the two national team newcomers Youssoufa Moukoko (17) and Niclas Füllkrug (29) for the tournament in Qatar.
Dortmund’s Mats Hummels (33) and Marco Reus (33), who was once again unfit for the tournament, are not part of the 26-player squad led by a strong Bayern block led by captain Manuel Neuer.
“We have a very good squad that we can take with us,” said Flick when the 26 names were announced on the DFB campus. “We didn’t make it easy for ourselves in the coaching team. We went through a lot of things, if-then strategies,” said the 57-year-old.
Flick rewarded offensive player Götze, who shot Germany to their fourth and last World Cup title in the final against Argentina in Brazil in 2014, for consistently strong performances at Eintracht Frankfurt with the DFB comeback. “We’re looking forward to him,” said Flick. Götze played his last of 63 international matches five years ago in a 2-2 win against France in Cologne.
In addition to goalkeeper Neuer, his Munich club colleague Thomas Müller will contest his fourth World Cup tournament. FC Bayern also has the largest contingent with a total of seven players. After Leipzig’s Timo Werner and Wolfsburg’s Lukas Nmecha were out due to injury, Flick called up youngster Moukoko and the filling pitcher, who scored regularly at Werder Bremen this season, for the attack. Moukoko, who turns 18 on the day of the opening game on November 20, is the youngest World Cup participant in DFB history.
Launch on November 23rd
The DFB entourage meets in Frankfurt immediately after the last league games on Sunday. A day later, Flick flies with the World Cup team to Oman, where a test match against the local hosts will take place next Wednesday.
A day later we continue to Qatar to the World Cup base in the very north of the country. On November 23, the national team will start the World Cup finals against Japan. Other group opponents are Spain and Costa Rica. The World Cup final will take place on December 18th.
