DFB favourite forced to bury his World Cup dream – is the double hero out too?

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Niclas Füllkrug must now abandon his hope of featuring at the 2026 World Cup.

As Sky and Bild report, the AC Milan striker will miss the finals in the USA, Mexico and Canada after being left out of Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann's squad.

Reports state that Nagelsmann—who will unveil his squad on Thursday—has already called Füllkrug to inform him of the decision. Despite a poor season, the 33-year-old had clung to hope until the end, trusting that his header ability would earn him a place in the World Cup squad.

Recent struggles at club level, however, have forced Nagelsmann to leave the former Werder Bremen man out. After a disappointing, injury-hit spell at West Ham United, he moved on loan to Milan in early January, hoping to force his way into Nagelsmann's plans. That strategy backfired: he failed to secure a regular starting berth and has scored only once in 19 Serie A outings to date.

A late call-up, he had only made his DFB debut shortly before the 2022 World Cup at 29 and was one of the few bright spots during Germany's early exit in Qatar. With ten goals in his first twelve caps, he had quickly established himself as a fan favourite, netting twice in five substitute appearances at the 2024 European Championship on home soil.

Since the tournament, he has managed only three additional caps, his last goal coming in the 5-0 Nations League win over Hungary in September 2024. Injuries kept him out of the World Cup qualifiers, and his lack of form meant he was also omitted from the friendlies against Switzerland (4-3) and Ghana (2-1) in March.

Germany v Italy - UEFA Nations League Quarterfinal Leg Two

Niclas Füllkrug will miss the World Cup, and Yann Bisseck is set to follow suit.

It remains to be seen whether Nagelsmann will even take a striker of Füllkrug's calibre to the World Cup. Tim Kleindienst of Borussia Mönchengladbach is the most obvious like-for-like alternative, but the 30-year-old missed almost the entire Bundesliga season because of a long-term knee injury, managing only ten minutes of game time.

Deniz Undav (VfB Stuttgart), Kai Havertz (Arsenal) and Nick Woltemade (Newcastle United) already appear to have their World Cup tickets booked. As a potential fourth option, Nagelsmann could spring a surprise by calling up Nicolo Tresoldi from Club Brugge for the first time.

Meanwhile, another high-profile World Cup hopeful will probably be disappointed: as reported by Sport1, Nagelsmann has also decided against selecting Inter Milan centre-back Yann Bisseck. Although the 25-year-old had not been called up since his international debut in March 2025, he had come to the fore with a strong season for Inter, including a domestic double of league and cup titles.

Instead, Nagelsmann may recall Matthias Ginter. The 32-year-old, last seen in the DFB squad in June 2023, is enjoying a second spring at SC Freiburg and could compete with Newcastle United's Malick Thiaw for the fifth centre-back slot. Nagelsmann will travel to Istanbul on Wednesday to watch Ginter in the Europa League final between Freiburg and Aston Villa.

The first four spots in central defence are likely to go to Jonathan Tah (FC Bayern), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid) and Waldemar Anton (Borussia Dortmund).

Pisa SC v AC Milan - Serie A

Niclas Füllkrug's record for the German national team