Germany are 50 days away from what they hope will be redemption. Since winning the World Cup in 2014, they have twice failed to emerge from their group — falling at the first hurdle in 2018 and 2022 — but are among the favourites for 2026.
An encouraging showing at the 2024 European Championship, where they reached the quarter-final, was seen as progress. However, in the two years since, the country’s optimism has risen and fallen in response to capricious form.
What does Germany expect? Nobody’s quite sure.
Who is in form?
Joshua Kimmich, Aleksandar Pavlovic and Jonathan Tah have all had fine seasons at Bayern Munich, who are on course for a treble.
Left-back David Raum, who inherited the RB Leipzig captaincy at the start of the year, has also had a fine campaign, growing into a leadership role while simultaneously playing the best football of his career within a young side.
On the periphery, Anton Stach’s excellent first season with Leeds United in the Premier League has seen him barge into the squad, while forward Deniz Undav has been prolific for Stuttgart; only Harry Kane has scored more league goals in the German top flight.
Who is out of form?
Julian Nagelsmann’s first-choice front three will likely be Kai Havertz, Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz and, concerningly, none of them is in the best of rhythms. Musiala and Havertz have had to spend much of the season recovering from long-term injuries and are showing signs of recovery, while Wirtz’s morale has suffered at Liverpool, under heavy media criticism and the weight of his enormous transfer.
Borussia Dortmund midfielder Felix Nmecha was in form prior to a knee injury suffered in March and, while he is expected back well before the World Cup preparations begin, whether he has enough time to return to his mid-season level is another matter; Nmecha has a unique skill set and there is no direct replacement.
Are there any injuries to worry about?
Plenty. Beyond those already mentioned, Serge Gnabry seems likely to be ruled out with an adductor tear. The Bayern forward suffered the injury in mid-April and, while nobody has confirmed a timeline, the noises are not encouraging.
Another Bayern forward, the precocious Lennart Karl, suffered his own muscle injury in April and has so far missed three games. Karl, 18, has recently returned to individual training, though, and should play again before the club season ends.
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What’s the biggest thing the manager needs to sort out?
The defence, which is a problem Nagelsmann inherited but is yet to fix. It looked weak again during the recent international break, when Switzerland and Ghana posed plenty of threat.
Kimmich will play right-back and Raum will start on the left. That much we know. But does Nagelsmann employ Tah with Nico Schlotterbeck, bringing his scalpel-like left foot into the team, or does he build around the ageing Antonio Rudiger, who might be Germany’s most talented defender but whose temperament is becoming increasingly hard to trust?
Waldemar Anton may yet be a compromise between the two. Whatever the case, Germany have to find a solution; they cannot beat the best teams in the world without an improvement in that area.
If you picked a starting XI today, who would be in it?
(4-3-3) Oliver Baumann; Joshua Kimmich, Jonathan Tah, Nico Schlotterbeck, David Raum; Aleksandar Pavlovic, Felix Nmecha, Leon Goretzka; Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala, Kai Havertz.
What are the key storylines around their group opponents?
Ivory Coast
From afar, it seems like it be might how head coach Emerse Fae fits all his talent together.
Fae has been in place since 2024, having worked as an assistant with the team that won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2023. Under him, The Elephants have been collectively highly impressive, producing watchable football from a solid defensive base. Yes, as defending AFCON champions, they were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Egypt and that was disappointing, but they were among the most attractive sides at the tournament prior to their elimination.
Ivory Coast head coach Emerse Fae (Kate McShane/Getty Images)
The framework is there for some of these players to become global stars at this tournament. Yan Diomande is an obvious candidate, but arguably already established, so what of Martial Godo and Bazoumana Traore, Wilfried Singo and Ousmane Diomande?
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Warm-up game:
Ivory Coast vs France, June 4
Ecuador
The pressing issue is Moises Caicedo, who has a suspension hanging over him. The Chelsea midfielder was sent off in a qualifying game against Argentina in September 2025, meaning he is currently out of the opening game of the tournament, against Ivory Coast.
The Ecuadorian FA and the team’s head coach, Sebastian Beccacece, have been lobbying FIFA to overturn that decision, but there is no indication yet of whether they will be successful.
Ecuador’s Moises Caicedo is banned for the opening game of the World Cup (John Thys/AFP via Getty Images)
Ecuador certainly have the talent to emerge from this group and, following the semi-final appearance at the Under-20 World Cup in 2019, there is a sense that this could be a breakthrough moment for the country on the global stage. Needless to say, the country’s hopes do not begin and end with Caicedo, but not having him for that pivotal first game, which could well set the tone for their tournament, would obviously be deeply inconvenient.
Warm-up games:
Ecuador vs Saudi Arabia, May 30
Ecuador vs Guatemala, June 7
Curacao
It’s easy to focus only on the macro storyline: Curacao are, with a population of 156,000, the smallest nation to ever qualify for a World Cup. The country’s most popular sport is baseball, but what can participation in 2026 do to that hierarchy and how might it affect future generations?
Those are natural questions, but they really concern long-term legacy rather than the here and now.
On the pitch, this should have been a wonderful moment in Dick Advocaat’s long, storied career. Advocaat led the team unbeaten through their qualifying section and, at 78, would have been the oldest head coach at the tournament. Sadly, he stepped down in February 2026 in response to a family health issue.
Fred Rutten, the former Feyenoord, PSV and Anderlecht head coach, now 60, has taken over, meaning Curacao are having to rebuild at very short notice with just weeks of preparation time ahead of this historic moment.
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Warm-up games:
Curacao vs Scotland, May 30
Curacao vs Aruba, June 6
When and where are Germany’s World Cup group games?
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Group E schedule
Matchday 1
DateMatchupLocation
Germany
Germany
Curacao
Curacao
Houston
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast
Ecuador
Ecuador
Philadelphia
Matchday 2
DateMatchupLocation
Germany
Germany
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast
Toronto, Canada
Ecuador
Ecuador
Curacao
Curacao
Kansas City, Mo.
Matchday 3
DateMatchupLocation
Curacao
Curacao
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast
Philadelphia
Ecuador
Ecuador
Germany
Germany
East Rutherford, N.J.
See full schedule and draw
Is there anything travelling fans need to know?
They should definitely be aware of the cost of train tickets to and from MetLife Stadium from New York City’s Penn Station which, currently, are being priced at a scandalous $150 return — that’s up from the normal price of $12.90, which was also the cost of tickets on the same route for last summer’s Club World Cup.
It’s also illegal to walk to the stadium, in case any fans had that idea. Even buses are extravagantly priced.