Germany host Finland on Sunday in their penultimate friendly ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026, with kick-off at 8:45pm CEST. Manuel Neuer will not play, Oliver Baumann starts, and Kai Havertz is the only other absentee because of UEFA Champions League final commitments.

Why Nagelsmann is treating this as a controlled step

Julian Nagelsmann said the decision on Neuer was made with the coaching staff. "We decided with the coaching team that he will not play on Sunday," he told bundesliga.com. That fits the broader picture around Neuer, who was recalled after initially retiring from international football following UEFA Euro 2024 and is expected to be Germany’s first-choice goalkeeper at the finals, but is recovering from a minor calf problem.

Baumann gets the start because he was already set to be Germany’s No.1 before Neuer’s U-turn. Nagelsmann backed him too: "He's been here before, he'll do a good job." That is the clearest indication in the brief that this is about managing the goalkeeper situation carefully rather than forcing a bigger selection debate into a warm-up fixture.

What this means for Germany’s final build-up

The Finland game is part of a tight run-in. Nagelsmann and his players depart for the USA on 2 June, then face the co-hosts in their final friendly in Chicago four days later. Group E follows quickly after that, with Curaçao on 14 June in Houston, Côte d'Ivoire on 20 June in Toronto and Ecuador on 25 June in East Rutherford.

Havertz’s absence is the other notable piece. His club workload matters here because he has played 12 Premier League matches in 2025, scored 2 goals and added 3 assists, while also making 5 Champions League appearances in 2025. Germany are not getting a full-strength look at him on Sunday, and that is a reminder that these late friendlies are being shaped by club duty as much as by international planning.

The main point, though, is simpler. Germany are not trying to squeeze one more experiment out of a friendly they can afford to use as a checkpoint. Neuer is being protected, Baumann is getting the start and Nagelsmann is moving into the final stage of World Cup preparation with the least disruptive goalkeeper decision available.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →