This article is part of the Guardian’s Euro 2024 Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 24 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from two countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 14 June.
Prospects
Hope is back. For quite a long time there was a fear of embarrassment for Germany at their home Euros. There was a feeling they were lucky that, as hosts, they did not have to go through qualifying as they would hardly have survived in the form they were in last year.
From March to September 2023, Die Nationalmannschaft lost four out of five games against mediocre opponents and won none. Hansi Flick, having also seen his team eliminated in the group stages of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, became the first Germany national coach ever to be sacked, the last straw being a shocking 4-1 home defeat by Japan in early September.
Germany turned to the 36-year-old Julian Nagelsmann, and many supporters were happy that he took pity on a job that suddenly not many coaches wanted. Nagelsmann is brash, has more charisma than his predecessor and brought momentum. There wasn’t an immediate upturn in fortunes though.
By the end of 2023, the DFB’s chaotic squad had continued the slide downhill. In a November friendly against Turkey, Kai Havertz suddenly played as a left-back – or as a “left 10”, as Nagelsmann said. The experiment went horribly wrong and Germany lost 3-2, a defeat which was followed by an embarrassing 2-0 reverse to neighbours Austria.
After that defeat in Vienna, Nagelsmann said in an interview with Der Spiegel: “We have to stop thinking in terms of status. We tell ourselves that Germany is a top footballing nation, even though we’ve been experiencing failures for years.”
In March 2024, he brought back Toni Kroos and opted for a traditional back four, with Havertz sensibly restored to playing closer to the opposition goal than his own. Germany have strength in attack but Nagelsmann is now once again focusing on ball possession rather than counterattacking. A fine 2-0 win over France was followed by a comeback 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in Frankfurt and the mood has changed – a previously unsettled team believes in itself again. Just as the fans do.
It’s hard to believe how quickly things turned around but Germany are back as one of the favourites for their home European Championship.
The coach
At just 36 years old, Julian Nagelsmann is the figurehead of the German coaching school once described by Mehmet Scholl as consisting of “laptop coaches”: ie pure tacticians, many of whom were never professional players. Never afraid to try new things, he used a skateboard to whiz around the training ground at Bayern.
They still miss him at Hoffenheim, whom he took from the brink of relegation to the Champions League before leaving for RB Leipzig. There he reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2020. Bayern came calling a year later and although he was sacked while on a skiing holiday in March 2023 they would now love to have him back. Yet Nagelsmann, surprisingly to many, extended his contract with the DFB until after the 2026 World Cup.
When he took office, he promised to keep things simple – before proceeding to make everything more complicated. He soon corrected himself. He spent a long time searching for a vision for his national team and is now focusing on possession and control with Kroos. But there’s not much time left to get used to each other and the new approach.
The icon
The boss is back. For a long time, Toni Kroos was misjudged by many Germans and decried as “Querpass-Toni” (side-pass-Toni). After the European Championship last-16 exit to England in 2021, Germany and Bayern legend Uli Hoeness said: “Toni Kroos no longer fits into this football.” He returned to the national team this spring and even Hoeness liked that. The multiple Champions League winner can make German football successful again. With his first pass back in the side, he set up the opening goal for Florian Wirtz in the first minute against France. He dictated that game, and his teammates adore him. Always calm, never nervous. At the age of 34, he just had perhaps his best season ever at Real Madrid. Querpass-Toni? “Anyone who still writes that today has no idea about football,” says Nagelsmann. It was announced in May that he will stop playing after the Euros.
One to watch
Florian Wirtz helped turn perennial runners-up Bayer Leverkusen into invincble Bundesliga champions. He is a gap-finder with a superb shot. Still only 21 he has already played more than 100 Bundesliga games and is one of the best dribblers Germany have ever had. He can turn incredibly quickly, weaving through defenders, as he did with his goal of the year against Freiburg in 2023, in which he sidestepped and sidestepped and sidestepped. “You can’t teach something like that,” said his club manager, Xabi Alonso.
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The maverick
“Rüdiger, you’ll take me to my grave,” said the actor and comedian Didi Hallervorden in the movie Didi und die Rache der Enterbten. An almost 40-year-old phrase that couldn’t be more fitting for Antonio Rüdiger. Sometimes he can be a bit wild, but everyone would rather play with him than against him. Physically probably the strongest Germany player, he is a guy who always seems to be having fun but never seems to be afraid – and he certainly never gives up. Had some ups and downs in his five years at Chelsea but was a key part of the 2021 Champions League winning side. Was not an automatic first choice in central defence when he joined Real Madrid in 2022, but he is now and led them to more glory last season.
The spine
Neuer, Rüdiger, Kroos, Havertz. An axis with a lot of experience, each of the four players has won the Champions League at least once. How many teams have such a spine? But you could also call it the axis of doubt. Kroos was retired from the national team until fairly recently (although bringing him back has probably been Nagelsmann’s most important move so far). Manuel Neuer was injured for a long time, and is starting to make uncharacteristic mistakes like the one which cost Bayern so dearly in the Bernabéu in the Champions League semi-final. Rüdiger always looks great at club level, but has often appeared a risky selection in the national team. And Havertz is still fighting with Niclas Füllkrug for his place. In theory, it’s a world-class spine. But in reality it still has plenty to prove on the biggest stage.
Probable starting XI
Celebrity fan
Herbert Grönemeyer. His music is as much a part of Germany as beer and bratwurst. He became known nationwide as an actor when in 1981 at the age of 21 he starred in the war drama Das Boot, which was nominated for six Oscars. He sang his song Zeit, dass sich was dreht at the opening ceremony of the 2006 home World Cup. Seen as someone who speaks from the heart of the German nation, he also wrote an anthem for his home town Bochum, which is always played when the players run out at the Ruhrstadion. He has also been a member of the national team fanclub since 2016.
Culinary delight
The Stadionwurst, which differs from the bratwurst solely in the fact that it is cooked and sold in or near a football stadium. It has to crunch when you bite into it. It is usually served in a roll and consumed alongside a beer. Professionals eat it with mustard, blasphemers with ketchup. They cost between €3.50-5 at Bundesliga clubs, and vegan options are now also available in some stadiums. The World Cup winner Hoeness now co-owns a Nuremberg-based bratwurst factory.
The Germany team guide was written by Nicolas Horn for Die Zeit.
