FRANKFURT: Veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was handed a surprise recall to Germany’s 26-man World Cup squad on Thursday, coming out of international retirement to play in the tournament for a fifth time.

The 40-year-old retired from international duty in 2024 but coach Julian Nagelsmann confirmed the World Cup winner will play ahead of Oliver Baumann at this summer’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

“Everyone knows the aura and quality Manu has, what he brings to a team,” Nagelsmann said at a squad announcement in Frankfurt of his “world class” keeper. “We’re planning with him as our number one,” he added.

“He has an impact on his own team, on the opposition, and can create special moments.”

Joshua Kimmich will retain the captaincy despite the long-time skipper’s return.

Former Manchester City and Bayern winger Leroy Sane, now at Galatasaray, has retained his spot.

Nagelsmann admitted Sane’s club statistics this season were not up to scratch, but highlighted his “five goal contributions in his past four games for Germany”.

Bayern Munich’s Neuer is the only remaining member of the squad that won the World Cup in 2014.

Matthias Ginter, another 2014 World Cup winner who was instrumental in Freiburg’s run to the Europa League final, failed to make the cut, with Newcastle’s Malick Thiaw preferred in central defence.

Bayern goalkeeper Jonas Urbig was dropped from the squad after being called up for the March friendlies, but will travel with the side to help in training during the tournament.

Munich’s Jamal Musiala returns to the squad after missing Germany’s March friendlies as he recovered from a broken ankle.

Nagelsmann named a Premier League-heavy attacking contingent, which includes freshly minted Premier League champion Kai Havertz of Arsenal, Liverpool’s Florian Wirtz and Newcastle’s Nick Woltemade.

Bayern youngster Lennart Karl, 18, was also called up to a major tournament for the first time. As expected, Bayern forward Serge Gnabry misses out with a thigh injury, as does Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen.

The German FA (DFB) began sharing video snippets announcing the squad player by player on social media early on Thursday, with Kimmich the first confirmed.

Neuer was the standout player as Germany won their fourth World Cup in 2014, but since then the team’s form has plummeted.

Germany crashed out at the World Cup group stage in 2018 for the first time since 1938 and repeated the feat four years later in Qatar.

The Germans have not fared much better in other international tournaments.

Since making the semi-finals of Euro 2016, Germany have won just one knockout game in the tournament — a 2-0 success against Denmark on home soil at Euro 2024.

“I have repeatedly said we want to become world champions,” Nagelsmann said on Thursday.

Neuer has impressed this season for Bayern, winning man-of-the-match honours in the quarter-final victory over Real Madrid, but comes into the tournament under an injury cloud due to a recurring calf complaint.

He is in doubt for Saturday’s German Cup final against VfB Stuttgart in Berlin.

The Germans will have one final match on home soil, against Finland on May 31, before facing World Cup co-hosts the United States in Chicago on June 6. Germany will be based in North Carolina during the tournament.

They are in Group ‘C’ alongside debutants Curacao, the Ivory Coast and Ecuador.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Oliver Baumann, Manuel Neuer, Alexander Nuebel; Defenders: Waldemar Anton, Nathaniel Brown, Joshua Kimmich, David Raum, Antonio Rudiger, Nico Schlotterbeck, Jonathan Tah, Malick Thiaw; Midfielders: Nadiem Amiri, Leon Goretzka, Pascal Gross, Jamie Leweling, Jamal Musiala, Felix Nmecha, Aleksandar Pavlovic, Angelo Stiller, Florian Wirtz; Forwards: Maximilian Beier, Kai Havertz, Lennart Karl, Leroy Sane, Deniz Undav, Nick Woltemade.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2026