FRANKFURT, Germany (Reuters) -Augsburg keeper Finn Dahmen earned his maiden Germany call-up on Wednesday for next month's 2026 World Cup qualifiers, with coach Julian Nagelsmann also naming fellow newcomers Nnamdi Collins and Paul Nebel.
Four-time world champions Germany will kick off their efforts to qualify for the tournament, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, with a trip to Slovakia on September 4 before hosting Northern Ireland three days later in Cologne.
With Luxembourg also
in Group A, Germany are the overwhelming favourites to advance.
The 27-year-old Dahmen got the nod, along with keepers Oliver Baumann and Alexander Nuebel, with Marc-Andre ter Stegen injured, Manuel Neuer retired and Bernd Leno having opted out of a reserve role when called up in October 2024.
Nagelsmann also did not call up Leroy Sane, who moved from Bayern Munich to Turkey's Galatasaray in the close season, saying he needed to prove himself in the Turkish league to come back. VfB Stuttgart's Nick Woltemade and West Ham United forward Niclas Fuellkrug are the only two forwards in the 23-man squad.
"We had a few other candidates, some are injured," Nagelsmann told a press conference. "They will be in the planning for the October matches. But we are convinced of the 23 we have chosen and we are banking on good games."
Germany, who were knocked out in the group stage at the last two editions of the World Cup, need to project dominance well before the tournament next year, Nagelsmann said.
"We want to go through the games (qualifiers) with dominance," Nagelsmann said. "That does not mean winning 5-0 every game but we want to play these games so as not to leave any doubt during the game. The players and everyone should feel that there were no weak phases. A 1-0 can also be dominant."
"I want to see this full conviction. Not to say 'we narrowly qualified to the World Cup and now we can start' because then it will be too late," he said.
(Reporting by Karolos GrohmannEditing by Toby Davis)
