EUROPEAN nation Germany have four World Cup titles to their name. The Germans beat Argentina in 2014 final to clinch the trophy after 24 years. We explore Germany as we inch closer to see them defend their title.
History and Stats
Twenty appearances is what Germany boast of at the highest level of world football. Germany is one of the most successful teams in the World Cup, reaching the quarterfinals all but on one occasion. Currently Germany is ranked number one in the FIFA World football rankings.
Coach
57 year old Joachim Löw has been associated with the German national team since 2006 and has been the longest serving national team coach in Europe. While announcing his 27-man squad a week ago, he also shared that he signed a contract with the national team that will run until Qatar 2022. He has guided the team to a World Cup and a Confederation Cup title.
Qualification
As Germany began their campaign for Russia 2018, their made their intentions clear from the outright and went on to stamp their dominance till the end. All ten games of the campaign were wins and finished off the campaign with one short of a positive 40 goal difference.
Also read: FIFA World Cup Team at a glance - Argentina
Preparation
In March, Germany set up friendlies with two of the top 10 teams and the result was a draw against Spain and a loss to Brazil. In June, Germany will play two games as preparation, Austria on the 2nd and Saudi Arabia six days later.
Group
Germany are joined by Mexico, Sweden and South Korea in Group F.
Squad
Joachim Löw’s provisional 27-member squad is as below
Goalkeepers: Bernd Leno (Bayer Leverkusen), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona, Spain), Kevin Trapp (Paris Saint-Germain, France);
Defenders: Matthias Ginter (Borussia Monchengladbach), Jonas Hector (Cologne), Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels, Niklas Sule and Joshua Kimmich (all Bayern Munich), Marvin Plattenhardt (Hertha Berlin), Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea, England), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen);
Midfielders/forwards: Julian Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Draxler (Paris Saint-Germain, France), Mario Gomez (Vfb Stuttgart), Leon Goretzka (Schalke 04), Ilkay Gundogan and Leroy Sane (Manchester City, England), Sami Khedira (Juventus, Italy), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid, Spain), Thomas Muller and Sebastien Rudy (both Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal, England), Nils Petersen (SC Freiburg), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund), Timo Werner (RB Leipzig).
All teams are required to name their final squad on or before June 4, 2018.