"It will be a smaller squad. That is clear. We will not play two different matches with two different teams," Jürgen Klopp told SPORT1 as he confirmed a reset from September's 44-man experiment. Germany used two squads for four Nations League matches then, but this time the list is down to 24 and Niclas Füllkrug is back after more than a year away. Germany go into the final phase of the group stage third in Group A2 with five points after four matchdays.

Füllkrug's case for a return

The recall makes sense on form as much as reputation. Füllkrug has scored 12 goals in 10 competitive matches this season, including 9 Bundesliga goals, and he also carries a Germany record of 14 goals in 24 internationals. Those are the numbers of a striker who has not been waiting around for a favour.

That said, the debate did not start from zero. Mario Basler argued against the call-up, saying: "I would not take him with me. I am in favor of building a young team over the next two years until the European Championship. Then you would put someone in front of him again." Klopp's answer was to keep the squad smaller, not to shut the door on senior players.

The younger names and the selection squeeze

The other message in the squad is about pressure. Klopp said, "I am really looking forward to the next two games. We have a colourful mix of very young and quite experienced players in the squad. After the 44-man squad in September, it was difficult to make this selection because, and that is actually the good news, more players would have deserved to be there again."

Wael Mohya is 17 and has been included for the first time. Nick Woltemade, Nadiem Amiri, David Raum, Karim Adeyemi, Yann Aurel Bisseck and Jonathan Burkardt are out, while injured Bayern players Jamal Musiala and Serge Gnabry are expected to miss out. Germany face Serbia on 13 November and Netherlands on 16 November, so the squad has immediate consequences rather than being a long-range planning exercise.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →