2022 World Cup: Country Profile - Germany

2022 World Cup: Country profile - Germany

Berlin, Nov 6 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Nov, 2022 ) :Factfile on Germany, who are in World Cup Group E: Best World Cup performance: Winners in 1954, 1974, 1990, 2014 Other honours: European Championship winners in 1972, 1980, 1996; FIFA Confederations Cup winners 2017 FIFA ranking: 11 Main clubs: Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia Moenchengladbach, RB Leipzig How they qualified: Finished first in European qualifying Group J Coach: Hansi Flick, 57, will lead Germany into a major tournament for the first time, having taken over from former mentor Joachim Loew after the European Championship in 2021. While Flick may be making his debut as head coach in Qatar, he is no stranger to big tournaments, having served as deputy in Germany's 2014 World Cup triumph as well as leading Bayern Munich to a treble in 2020. Despite lacking a top-class striker and overseeing a rebuilding project in charge of Germany, Flick has lost just one of his 15 matches in charge.

Key player: Despite a wealth of options between the sticks, Germany's captain and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, 36, remains his side's most important player. Alongside Thomas Mueller and possibly Mats Hummels, Neuer will be one of only a few members of Germany's victorious 2014 World Cup squad to make the trip to Qatar. Besides his leadership, experience and familiarity with the sizeable Bayern contingent, sweeper-keeper Neuer is essential to the way Flick's Germany want to play.

Neuer, who has won two Champions League titles and is on a record streak of 10 consecutive Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich, enters the tournament under a significant injury cloud, having missed most of October due to a shoulder problem.

Group fixtures: November 23: Germany v Japan November 27: Spain v Germany December 1: Costa Rica v Germany Probable squad Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona/ESP), Kevin Trapp (Eintracht Frankfurt) Defenders: Armel Bella-Kotchap (Southampton/ENG), Matthias Ginter (Freiburg), Robin Gosens (Inter Milan/ITA), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Thilo Kehrer (West Ham/ENG), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid/ESP), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Niklas Suele (Borussia Dortmund)Midfielders: Julian Brandt (Borussia Dortmund), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich), Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City/ENG), Jonas Hofmann (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Leroy Sane (Bayern Munich), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund)Forwards: Niclas Fuellkrug (Werder Bremen), Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich), Kai Havertz (Chelsea/ENG), Youssoufa Moukoko (Borussia Dortmund), Thomas Mueller (Bayern Munich), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Lukas Nmecha (Wolfsburg)