Striker Niclas Füllkrug will not be part of Germany's World Cup squad but Borussia Dortmund forward Maxi Beier is a surprise inclusion and Jonas Urbig will go as a training goalkeeper, German news reports said on the eve of Thursday's nomination.
The Bild newspaper and Sky TV said on Wednesday that coach Julian Nagelsmann will not include AC Milan's Füllkrug into his 26-player squad for the June 11-July 19 tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Füllkrug, 33, has been a talisman for Germany in his 24 caps, scoring 14 goals. But his last international goal dates back to September 2024 and he missed all of World Cup qualifying though injury.
Füllkrug joined Milan on loan in January from parent club West Ham United. He expressed confidence that he would be part of the World Cup squad but has managed only one goal in 19 Milan appearances.
Sky also said that the VfB Stuttgart trio of Deniz Undav, Jamie Leweling and Angelo Stiller will be nominated and Sport Bild reported that Borussia Dortmund midfielder Felix Nmecha will be part of the squad as well.
Sky later reported that Beier was included despite having been left out of the most recent squad.
Youngsters Lennart Karl from Bayern Munich and Said El Mala from Cologne are reportedly other squad members and Dortmund's Waldemar Anton is set to be the fourth centre back alongside Jonathan Tah, Nico Schlotterbeck and Antonio Rüdiger.
Neuer set for comeback
Nagelsmann has said he would talk to all players from a provisional squad of 55 before making the names public.
These talks have reportedly also included Nagelsmann informing Hoffenheim goalkeeper Oliver Baumann that he will only be a back-up and Bayern's Manuel Neuer is first choice as he makes a comeback from international retirement. Baumann had been the number one.
Bild and Sky said that Stuttgart's Alexander Nübel would be the third goalkeeper and that Urbig would also travel to the World Cup as a "training goalkeeper."
It was however unclear whether Urbig would be a member of the World Cup squad or whether he would just be part of the delegation.
Urbig, who has been at Bayern since January 2025 and has deputized for ageing Neuer on several occasions, was called up for the first time in March but missed a possible maiden cap due to injury.
