News: 2026 World Cup Thread — Hope, Hype & Heartbreak™

Deniz Undav was the standout story. Brought on in the 64th minute for Jamal Musiala with Germany already 4-1 up, the 29-year-old VfB Stuttgart striker had a hand in all three remaining goals — a backheel assist for Nathaniel Brown, a goal of his own, and a through ball to set up Kai Havertz.

That extended a remarkable run: across his ten caps since debuting in March 2024, Undav has been directly involved (as scorer or assister) in every single German goal scored while he's been on the pitch. The piece walks through this game by game — quiet cameos against France, Ukraine and Hungary where no goals fell during his time on, then decisive contributions against the Netherlands, Bosnia, Ghana, Finland and now Curaçao.

His efficiency is the other headline. Undav now has 7 goals and 4 assists for Germany — 11 goal involvements in just 397 minutes, roughly one every 36 minutes. In his four caps this year alone, that rate jumps to a scoring contribution every 23 minutes.

 

Julian will most probably start with Sane again , but he will need to bring on an option as from the 65th minute - can’t wait to long into the tournament to figure out what to do on the right wing. This is crucial for him to figure out .
And Sane off the bench could also be crucial , if he does not show up what then .
Hope Sane finds that 6/7 match world class form that he does do from time to time . If it’s the right time it’s now :

 

Germany 1st game results of all world cups

 

yes

 

I would not break the Nmecha/ Pavlovic partnership - Keep Kimmich at Right back and against teams like France he just needs to stay back and not move up as much - would be crazy to change anything now, and there is no reason for it either. Kimmich is actually quite a good right back.

 

As said why change anything now - Kimmich just needs to stay put in his zone against teams like France

 

yeahh exactly - always first make sure you are tight at the back - Like when Voller took over for one game and we beat France. And we have enough attacking quality to score a goal or two. We don't always have play pretty football, affective is also fine.