Julian Nagelsmann has been talking about his decision making on the Germany team v Ecuador.
That match a 9pm (UK time) kick-off on Thursday.
Germany have already guaranteed that they top their group and progress to the last 32.
With it being a dead rubber as far as the group winners are concerned, the fans and media expecting wholesale changes.
Julian Nagelsmann expected to rest certain players and give others a chance to impress and prepare themselves in case they are needed later in the competition.
The Germany manager having given now this insight though ahead of the match.
Julian Nagelsmann asked about the Germany team v Ecuador and what plans he has to rotate and make changes: “That is the most legitimate question of all, the discussion about whether or not to make changes. We in the coaching staff also discussed and considered this extensively.”
The Germany boss going on to explain what he has planned and why: “Looking at the weeks leading up to the World Cup, one of the key topics was that the team needed time to gel and that we hadn’t played enough games together. Now we’ve played two matches, and we’re already debating how many changes to make. I don’t see the point in that. With Kai, Jamal, and Felix, we had players who were away from the national team for up to a year. We’ve now secured two wins, which is important for the standings. But we still have one game left, which we want to win and use to prepare for the knockout stage.”
Julian Nagelsmnnn going on to say: “I understand every discussion about Deniz Undav having earned his place in the starting line up [having scored three goals off the bench in the opening two group matches], that is certainly true. Nevertheless, we have a reasoned approach to our decisions and we make them with conviction. Therefore, we will make the necessary changes….’Nene’ (Brown) is carrying a knock and Schlotti has unfortunately suffered a serious injury. Otherwise, we will approach the game the same way we have in recent matches.”
Nagelsmann concluding with: “We have a plan. We have explained it to Deniz and to the other players. We don’t make our decisions on a whim, we make them because we believe they’re the right ones. That is why we’ll [only] make the changes that we feel are necessary.”
So Julian Nagelsmann making clear he is planning just two changes, with Antonio Rüdiger and David Raum coming in for Nico Schlotterbeck and Nathaniel Brown, two forced changes.
So no starting place for Denis Undav, nor Newcastle United pair Nick Woltemade and Malick Thiaw.
Although I suspect that Nagelsmann will use a number of subs earlier than normal to share the minutes around a little bit more.
The 2026 World Cup group games schedule for Newcastle United players:
Saturday 13 June
Morocco 1 Brazil 1 (Bruno Guimaraes assist for Vinicius Jnr equaliser)
Sunday 14 June
Curacao 1 Germany 7 (Malick Thiaw and Nick Woltemade unused subs)
Monday 15 June
Tunisia 1 Sweden 5 (Anthony Elanga introduced in the 91st minute when Sweden led 4-1)
Wednesday 17 June
Portugal 1 DR Congo 1 (Yoane Wissa with a brilliant headed goal to equalise just before the break)
Croatia 2 England 4 (Dan Burn an unused sub as England entertain!)
Saturday 20 June
Haiti 3 Brazil 0 (Bruno Guimaraes stars in comfortable win)
Ivory Coast 1 Germany 2 (Malick Thiaw and Nick Woltemade were unused subs)
Netherlands 5 Sweden 1 (Anthony Elanga brought on at 4-0 down and scored a cracking goal)
Tuesday 23 June
Ghana 0 England 0 (Dan Burn an unused sub in this bore draw for England)
Wednesday 24 June
Colombia 1 DR Congo 0 (Yoane Wissa played the full match as Colombia won with a 76th minute goal)
Scotland 0 Brazil 3 (Bruno Guimaraes with two classy assists to top off an excellent display)
Thursday 25 June
Ecuador v Germany (Malick Thiaw, Nick Woltemade) World Cup group match 9pm BBC
Friday 26 June
Japan v Sweden (Anthony Elanga) World Cup group match 12am BBC
Saturday 27 June
Panama v England (Dan Burn) World Cup group match 10pm ITV
Sunday 28 June
Uzbekistan v DR Congo (Yoane Wissa) World Cup group match 12.30am BBC