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Julian Nagelsmann finally set aside his busy schedule to unveil Germany's confirmed 26-man squad for the 2026 World Cup.
Prior to Thursday's official announcement, the German manager revealed he had spent the week making "around 62 phone calls" to players who earned their place in the squad and, more difficult still, those who had missed out on selection.
Among the more notable conversations was the one Nagelsmann had with Oliver Baumann. The Hoffenheim goalkeeper had been Germany's undisputed No. 1 throughout World Cup qualifying, featuring in every single minute while keeping four straight clean sheets to finish the campaign as group winners.
Yet, as leaked ahead of the formal announcement, Nagelsmann has opted to bring back Bayern Munich's Manuel Neuer, confirming the veteran shot-stopper as the new first choice. The iconic 40-year-old claimed another Bundesliga title with the Bavarians and helped the club reach a Champions League semifinal, further cementing his elite status in the sport. Nevertheless, Neuer had been absent from international duty for two years, with his last Germany appearance coming at Euro 2024.
"Anyone who knows me is aware that I didn't arrive at this decision easily," Neuer had stated following the home tournament. "I feel physically very strong and, naturally, the 2026 World Cup ... would have been tempting. And yet I concluded that now is precisely the right moment to close my chapter with the national team." Evidently, the allure of the World Cup proved too strong to resist.
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The central concern surrounding Neuer's inclusion comes down to communication—or the absence of it. Nagelsmann had comfortably steered Germany through the entire qualification campaign without dropping any hint of a goalkeeper change, only to spring the news on Baumann—and the wider public—just weeks before the tournament kicks off.
"The way he communicates is simply a disaster," former Germany international and Euro 1996 champion Markus Babbel told ran. "This indecisiveness from the very start is driving us mad with our national coach. Because you want clear direction, and every player feels exactly the same way."
Babbel's former international colleague Matthias Sammer held a contrasting view. "Are we on a casual stroll or are we in elite sport, where even the harshness of such decisions can seem baffling to people on the outside at first?" the former Ballon d'Or recipient posed in an interview with Sky Germany.
"The objective has to be to have the best goalkeeper available right now," Sammer argued. "Manuel Neuer is the finest German goalkeeper we have."
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"Matthias Sammer is correct that it's not about personal feelings, but that the best players must go to the World Cup," Babbel acknowledged. "But nobody can convince me that Nagelsmann only realized last week: 'Wow, Neuer is actually in outstanding form.'"
As recently as the week of the announcement, Baumann had insisted he remained his nation's first-choice keeper: "That was my position—or is my position. I'm heading there with great confidence." That belief may now be shaken.
At the squad announcement, Nagelsmann explicitly named Neuer as the starting goalkeeper. "We're planning with him as our No. 1," the German head coach stated, "knowing that we have a world-class option behind him. The decision has been made—and in my view, it's the correct one."
"When putting a squad together, you aim to select the highest number of top-quality players," Nagelsmann explained. "With goalkeepers, the primary task is to name the three best available. That's why we decided to ask him [Neuer] whether he wanted to return to the national team."