During the upcoming international break, Germany will kick off UEFA qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup with matches against Slovakia and Northern Ireland. Germany is a heavy favorite to win Group A and automatically qualify for the tournament, hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico next summer.
Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann announced his squad and put a heavy emphasis on older players, only selecting three players under the age of 23: Florian Wirtz, Nnamdi Collins, and Paul Nebel.
One of the major omissions was Bayern Munich central midfielder Aleksandar Pavlović.
“Generally speaking, Aleks is a very good player; I have a close relationship with him and a close exchange,” said Nagelsmann (via @iMiaSanMia). “But even then, his playing time last year was too little for his age, and he didn’t get enough pre-season due to his facial injury. He simply needs to stay fit for a longer period and get more than 34% of playing time. How much playing time did Lamine Yamal get last year? 100%. And our top talent got 33%.”
Pavlović logged 2,288 minutes for club and country last season, compared to 5,374 minutes for Yamal. Pavlović missed the preseason with tonsillitis, broke his collarbone in October, and picked up mononucleosis in February. Luckily, Pavlović has a full season ahead of the World Cup to establish himself as the starter next to Joshua Kimmich.
