Germany coach Hansi Flick named a 26-man squad for their upcoming friendlies, with Antonio Rudiger, Leroy Sane and Ilkay Gundogan among eight returnees.
Thomas Mueller, Serge Gnabry, Niklas Suele, and Mario Goetze, who all travelled to the 2023 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, were not included in the squad.
As the host nation for the 2024 European Championships, Germany has automatically qualified for the tournament and will play three friendlies in June of this year.
“All the players are enormously motivated to give everything for the team and our fans in the next three international matches on the way to the home European Championship,” Flick said in a statement released on Friday.
“We want to put our upcoming opponents under pressure with a lot of attacking power through the wingers and at the same time be compact defensively with the back three. We are very well positioned for this with our selected squad.”
Sane, Rudiger, and Gundogan were absent from Germany’s March friendlies. They fell to Belgium 3–2 in Cologne and defeated Peru 2-0 in Mainz.
Prior to the announcement, Manchester City midfielder Gundogan told AFP subsidiary SID, “the national team is and will continue to be something special.” I am determined to be there in June.”
Gundogan, a crucial member of the City squad that will face Inter Milan in the Champions League final on June 10, is unlikely to play on June 12.
Thomas Mueller, a veteran forward for Bayern Munich, has been left out of the squad. Flick stated in March that Mueller would not participate in the June friendly matches, but that the door remained open for his return.
On June 12 — Germany’s 1,000th international match — Flick’s squad will face Ukraine in Bremen before travelling to Warsaw to play Poland on June 16 and Gelsenkirchen to face Colombia on June 20.
Hansi Flick’s 26-man squad:
Goalkeepers: Marc-Andre Ter Stegen (Barcelona/ESP), Bernd Leno (Fulham/ENG), Kevin Trapp (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Defenders: Matthias Ginter (Freiburg), Robin Gosens (Inter Milan/ITA), Benjamin Henrichs (RB Leipzig), Thilo Kehrer (West Ham/ENG), Lukas Klostermann (RB Leipzig), David Raum (Rb Leipzig), Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid/ESP), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Malick Thiaw (AC Milan/ITA), Marius Wolf (Borussia Dortmund)
Midfielders/Forwards: Julian Brandt (Borussia Dortmund), Emre Can (Borussia Dortmund), Niclas Fuellkrug (Werder Bremen), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich), Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City/ENG), Kai Havertz (Chelsea/ENG), Jonas Hoffman (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Leroy Sane (Bayern Munich), Kevin Schade (Brentford/ENG), Timo Werner (RB Leipzig), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)
Coach: Hansi Flick
Photo by EPA/RONALD WITTEK
