After a disappointing performance against Portugal, the German national team will be playing for much more than just third place in the Nations League when they face France on Sunday.
On the same spot where dreams of winning the European Championship on home soil were shattered eleven months ago by an incredibly unfortunate defeat to Spain in the quarter-finals, the national team will end its international season against France on Sunday. At Saturday’s press conference, national coach Julian Nagelsmann still described the 1-2 defeat after extra time as “the most bitter defeat and a sad day in my soccer career” with visible emotion: “The drama of the game and the emotional swings were extreme. If we had won, we would have been very close to achieving something great.”
Penalty shootout if the score is tied
Sunday’s match will be far less emotional, guaranteed by the fact that the game for third place will not go into extra time if the score is tied after 90 minutes, but will be decided by a penalty shootout. After their semi-final defeats, both sides are deflated going into this unpopular Nations League third-place play-off, but Nagelsmann wants to see a much more aggressive and incisive performance from his squad at the Stuttgart Arena than in Wednesday’s 2-1 defeat to Portugal.
“We’re allowed to play soccer, no one has to dig up a field,” Nagelsmann said emphatically, making it clear that he will not tolerate complacency and will take action next season if necessary: “It’s about playing a good game and preparing for World Cup qualifying. I think every player wants to be there.”
In addition, the German team needs important world ranking points with a view to the 2026 World Cup. Italy’s 3-0 defeat in their World Cup qualifier in Norway means that there is still a chance to move up from their current tenth place to overtake the Azzurri, who are directly above them. In the final draw for next year’s World Cup, the top nine teams in the world rankings will be seeded alongside the three hosts, Mexico, the USA, and Canada. Hence Nagelsmann’s comment: “There are still many factors to consider in this game. Third place is the lowest motivation, and that’s a good thing.”
Nagelsmann hints at personnel changes
While France coach Didier Deschamps is likely to make some changes to the team that lost 4-5 to Spain, partly due to the shorter recovery time compared to the DFB team, Nagelsmann also has changes planned for the Portugal game. He will probably move away from the three-man defense and switch to a back four, as indicated by his announcement that he wants to see more offensive ball wins with an additional man: “It’s about keeping them away from our goal and being more stable when we have possession.”
The national coach does not want to take into account those players who are not yet on vacation on Sunday evening, but are instead heading to the Club World Cup in the USA. “We’ll make sure nothing happens. The guys all have the energy to play tomorrow and at the Club World Cup.” However, he has not yet received any text messages from Dortmund or Munich asking him to rest their players.
Nagelsmann watched France’s 4-5 defeat to Spain in his office at the base camp in Herzogenaurach, describing it as a “super-interesting game” and saying that he thought France were “actually the better team.” Nagelsmann can only dream of the pool of players that his colleague Deschamps has at his disposal. “The depth of the squad is more than impressive. They have ten central defenders who are all at a similar level,“ enthused the national coach, adding with regard to France’s attacking department: ”When they’re really in the flow, they’re difficult to play against.” Nagelsmann’s countermeasure to compensate for the lack of pace is: “Block deep balls, be better at closing down, be clever in running duels.”
Wagner’s departure – will other players follow?
For Sandro Wagner, the match will be his farewell game as Nagelsmann’s assistant. The 37-year-old had abandoned his original plan to remain assistant coach at the DFB until the World Cup because he is keen to take on the head coach role at FC Augsburg in the future.
It is quite possible that some members of the current squad have also been called up by Nagelsmann for the last time. Before the start of the mini-tournament, the national coach announced that he wanted to commit to a squad with which he could start the World Cup qualifiers in September and then prepare for the tournament. For uncertain candidates such as Serge Gnabry and Robin Gosens, who performed very poorly as substitutes against Portugal, this may be their last chance to prove themselves.
