Germany have named Manuel Neuer as their starting goalkeeper for the World Cup, with Julian Nagelsmann ending weeks of uncertainty on Thursday by placing the 40-year-old back at the top of the depth chart. Neuer, who had retired from international football after Euro 2024, is back in a 26-man squad and set for a fifth successive World Cup.
Nagelsmann said the decision came down to selecting the best three keepers and confirmed that Neuer would start, after previously identifying Hoffenheim's Oliver Baumann as his first choice. The coach said Germany contacted Neuer and asked whether he wanted to return to the national team, adding that the decision still stood. Neuer last played for Germany at Euro 2024, and his comeback follows a contract extension with Bayern last week.
The call restores one of the most familiar figures in German football to the center of the team's World Cup plans. Neuer won the 2014 World Cup and now returns as Germany chase a fifth title after shock group-stage exits in 2018 and 2022. The squad also includes Bayern teenager Lennart Karl, Nadiem Amiri and Leroy Sané, while Niclas Füllkrug, Karim Adeyemi and Kevin Schade were left out.
Germany will meet Curacao, Ecuador and Ivory Coast in Group E, a draw that leaves little room for drift if they want to avoid another fast collapse on the sport's biggest stage. Nagelsmann said the objective was clear: Germany want to become world champions, and every player named has to show that every day.
The selection reflects a coach willing to reverse himself when the moment demands it. Baumann had long been framed as the leading option, but Neuer's experience, his record and the trust Nagelsmann placed in him won out. For Germany, the gamble is not simply about a goalkeeper. It is about whether a veteran who had stepped away can still anchor a side that has spent two World Cups trying and failing to survive the group phase.
