Next Thursday, national team manager Julian Nagelsmann will announce Germany’s squad for the 2026 World Cup. Which names might make a surprise appearance in the line-up?”Most of the squad is already in place, of course; I have 20 players firmly in mind, whilst for six others it’s still a race down the home straight,” said Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann during an early May information call for members of the National Team Fan Club. At that point, exactly two weeks remained until the official announcement of the German World Cup squad on 21 May.Nagelsmann has repeatedly stressed that the squad he picked for the friendlies against Switzerland (4-3) and Ghana (2-1) at the end of March will form the backbone of the World Cup party. Nevertheless, several players who were not involved in March can still realistically hope for a place at the World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada.So who might these late contenders be? Who has impressed in the final sprint for squad places, and which names could appear in the DFB squad as a complete surprise? SPOX has run the numbers and gauged the surprise factor.
