Impressive debut Premier League season not enough to get Leeds United player to World Cup
Germany have overlooked Anton Stach for their World Cup squad, as well as brining one of their all-time greats out of retirement.
Leeds United midfielder Stach had been hopeful of making Julian Nagelsmann's 26 after winning his call-up for four years in March.
Stach was an 80th-minute substitute in March's 4-2 win over Switzerland and was unused in the 2-1 win over Ghana – drawn in England's group.
He earnt his call-up after some excellent performances in his first season of Premier League football. Stach started the campaign playing most as a box-to-box midfielder in a 4-3-3, but he has mainly been used as the inside-right in a 3-4-2-1 formation. Despite his height, he has been a vital cog in the wheel as a taker, rather than receiver, of set-pieces.
He injured his ankle in the FA Cup quarter-final against West Ham United but returned for the semi-final and was in outstanding form for the recent win over Burnley, where he scored a goal from long range.
The big shock of the squad is that 124-cap World Cup-winning goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who retired from international football in 2024 but is now expected to be Germany's No 1 in the tournament, where they are in a group with Curacao, Ivory Coast and Ecuador.
Felix Nmecha, brother of Leeds striker Lukas, is also in the squad.
SQUAD: Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Alexander Nubel (Monaco); Waldemar Anton (Borussia Dortmund), Nathaniel Brown (Frankfurt), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich, captain), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid, vice-captain), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (Bayern Munich), Malick Thiaw (Newcastle); Nadiem Amiri (Mainz), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich), Pascal Gross (Brighton), Jamie Leweling (Stuttgart), Lennart Karl (Bayern Munich), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Felix Nmecha (Borussia Dortmund), Alexander Pavlovic (Bayern Munich), Angelo Stiller (Stuttgart), Florian Wirtz (Liverpool); Maximilian Beier (Borussia Dortmund), Kai Havertz (Arsenal), Leroy Sane (Galatasaray), Denis Undav (Stuttgart), Nick Woltemade (Newcastle).