Germany, Spain change half of the squad for the World Cup

On March 17, Flick announced the list of Germany's team to participate in two friendlies against Peru and Belgium at the end of the month. The list is absent for 11 of the 26 players who attended the 2022 World Cup, including Thomas Muller, Niklas Sule, Antonio Rudiger, Ilkay Gundogan and Leroy Sane. Four of these 11 were disqualified due to injury. The rest are absent due to the coach's choice.

In an interview earlier this week, Flick affirmed that he would create opportunities for young players. He also revealed not to summon Muller, the star who is in high form with Bayern. However, that does not mean Muller has no chance to attend Euro 2024.

The list of summoned players this time has five players who have never played for Germany, including Josha Vagnoman (Stuttgart), Marius Wolf (Dortmund), Mergim Berisha (Augsburg), Kevin Schade (Freiburg) and Felix Nmecha (Wolfsburg). "Our mission was to find alternatives and expand the team," explains Flick.

Germany will play at least 14 friendlies over the next 15 months. They will then attend Euro 2024 from June 14 to July 14, 2024 as the host.

At the 2022 World Cup, Germany must return home from the group stage. Flick's teachers and students started the tournament with a 1-2 loss to Japan, before drawing with Spain 1-1 and winning against Costa Rica 4-2. They finished third in Group E with four points, equal to the second-placed Spain team but lost the difference. Japan leads with six points.

Spain ranked above Germany in the group stage, but had to stop in the 1/8 round. They lost to Morocco 0-3 on penalties, after drawing 0-0 in 120 minutes. This defeat caused coach Luis Enrique to leave and U23 coach Luis De La Fuente was promoted to replace.

In the first convocation, De La Fuente also vigorously renewed. 16 players who attended the 2022 World Cup were not present, including Unai Simon, Cesar Azpilicueta, Eric García, Hugo Guillamon, Pau Torres, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Pedri, Soler, Llorente, Koke, Ferran Torres, Yeremy Pino, Asensio, Sarabia and Ansu Fati. Of these, only Simon, Azpilicueta, Pedri are out due to injury, and Busquets has retired from the team.

Barca contributed eight players to the World Cup squad, but now only two remain. Eric Garcia, Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati are all absent due to erratic form at the Camp Nou. The same thing happened with Koke and Marcos Llorente, two players of Atletico Madrid club.

Real Madrid and Sociedad are the two clubs that contribute the most to the list of summons this time, with three players. 18 out of 25 Spanish players are playing in La Liga. The remaining seven play for foreign clubs.

On March 25, Spain opened the Euro 2024 qualifying round with a match against Norway. Three days later, they played their second match as a guest at Scotland. Spain is in Group A with Norway, Scotland, Georgia and Cyrpus. The top two teams in the group will advance to the final round.

Goalkeepers: Bernd Leno, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Kevin Trapp

Defenders: Armel Bella-Kotchap, Matthias Ginter, Christian Gunter, Thilo Kehrer, David Raum, Nico Schlotterbeck, Josha Vagnoman, Marius Wolf

Midfielders: Mergim Berisha, Emre Can, Niclas Fullkrug, Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka, Mario Gotze, Joshua Kimmich, Jamal Musiala

Forwards: Felix Nmecha, Kevin Schade, Timo Werner, Florian Wirtz, Kai Havertz

Goalkeepers: Kepa, Robert Sanchez, Raya.

Defenders: Carvajal, Pedro Porro, David Garcia, Laporte, Nacho, Inigo Martinez, Balde, Gaya

Midfielders: Rodri, Zubimendi, Gavi, Fabian Ruiz, Mikel Merino, Ceballos

Forwards: Morata, Dani Olmo, Nico Williams, Joselu, Iago Aspas, Gerard Moreno, Brian Gil, Oyarzabal