On Thursday morning, 5 November, Jürgen Klopp named Germany’s squad for the final two Nations League matches of the year: 24 players for the trip to Serbia on 13 November and the home game against the Netherlands on 16 November. From the 44-man XXL squad of September, Klopp has cut 20 of the 44 — and among the 24 selected, the two biggest stories are the only two men he had never called up before: Niclas Füllkrug is back, and 17-year-old Wael Mohya is in for the first time.
“Form beats everything else, that’s why we chose these lads,” Klopp said in the DFB-TV nomination interview. “Form schlägt alles andere, deswegen haben wir uns für die Jungs entschieden.”
The 24-man squad
Goalkeepers: Alexander Nübel (Beşiktaş), Marc-André ter Stegen (Ajax), Jonas Urbig (Bayern Munich). Ter Stegen is Klopp’s No. 1 — with 45 caps, he is by far the most experienced of the three goalkeepers.
Defenders: Waldemar Anton (Borussia Dortmund), Nathaniel Brown (Bayern Munich), Finn Jeltsch (VfB Stuttgart), Maximilian Mittelstädt (VfB Stuttgart), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (Bayern Munich), Malick Thiaw (Newcastle United), Philipp Treu (SC Freiburg).
Midfielders: Tom Bischof (Bayern Munich), Said El Mala (1. FC Köln), Brajan Gruda (RB Leipzig), Lennart Karl (Bayern Munich), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Wael Mohya (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Felix Nmecha (Borussia Dortmund), Aleksandar Pavlović (Bayern Munich), Derry Scherhant (SC Freiburg), Florian Wirtz (FC Liverpool).
Forwards: Younes Ebnoutalib (Eintracht Frankfurt), Niclas Füllkrug (Werder Bremen), Kai Havertz (FC Arsenal).
Kimmich (116 caps) is back — still the national team’s captain, returning after time away following his father’s death. Of the ten players who debuted under Klopp in September and October, five are called up again: Urbig, Ebnoutalib, El Mala, Treu and Scherhant. Three men in the squad are still uncapped: Jeltsch, Gruda and Mohya — Gruda was called up in September but had to withdraw injured.
Füllkrug: from “not my fault” to a happy conversation
The biggest story of this squad is Niclas Füllkrug. The 33-year-old Werder Bremen striker leads the Bundesliga scoring chart with nine goals from the first eight matchdays — and 12 goals in ten competitive games for Werder this season. His last Germany appearance was in June 2025, the Nations League third-place play-off defeat to France (0-2); his last squad inclusion was September 2025, under Julian Nagelsmann. His last goal for Die Mannschaft came more than two years ago — September 2024, in the 5-0 win over Hungary. Even so, his record in a Germany shirt remains formidable: 14 goals in 24 appearances.
Klopp himself lit the fuse for the Füllkrug debate. During half-time of Bayern vs Arsenal in the Champions League, he told DAZN: “Niclas Füllkrug is scoring one goal after another in the Bundesliga, but he is 33. That is not my fault.” (“Niclas Füllkrug schießt in der Bundesliga ein Tor nach dem anderen, aber er ist 33. Das ist nicht meine Schuld.”) He added that Germany have a present, a medium-term future and a long-term future — Füllkrug could help in the present and the medium term, even if his age raises questions about the long term.
Now the decision is made — and Klopp says he was delighted to make it: “I’m not exactly happy with all the things I’ve said in half-time interviews… but when I spoke about Fülle, I only listed facts. It was a joy to make the decision, and it was also a joy to tell him.” (“Es war eine Freude, die Entscheidung zu treffen und es war auch eine Freude, sie ihm mitzuteilen.”)
Even so, readers should not pencil Füllkrug straight into the starting XI: he is most likely a back-up behind Kai Havertz — the familiar “super-sub” role he played under Nagelsmann and Hansi Flick. But for a team short of goals, a reliable scorer off the bench may be exactly what Klopp needs most right now.
Mohya: 17 years old, and a line that is pure Klopp
If Füllkrug is the story of experience, Wael Mohya is the story of the future. The Borussia Mönchengladbach attacking midfielder is 17 — he turns 18 in December — and is the only genuine newcomer to the senior squad this time. After 23 Bundesliga appearances (four goals), he has been called up while Gladbach are deep in crisis.
Klopp’s explanation was short: “There aren’t many 17-year-olds currently playing in the Bundesliga — that alone is an outstanding feature. But he also plays well.” (“Es gibt nicht viele 17-Jährige, die aktuell Bundesliga spielen — das alleine ist ja schon ein herausragendes Merkmal. Aber er macht es auch gut.”) He said his three conversations with the youngster were “top”, then added a line that is pure Klopp: “When I was 17, I wasn’t as self-confident as he is — but I also wasn’t as good at 17.” (“Ich war mit 17 nicht so selbstbewusst, aber ich war auch nicht so gut mit 17.”)
According to Transfermarkt, Mohya could become only the fifth player in history to play for Germany before his 18th birthday. Klopp was clear about the plan: let the boy get a taste of the senior team, settle in, show himself — and he wants to keep opening that pathway for other young players on the road to EURO 2028.
Tresoldi: absent — but not forgotten
For readers of this blog, the most notable absence is Nicolò Tresoldi. The 22-year-old Club Brugge striker is in sparkling form — 12 goals in 14 games as of late October — and this blog recently devoted a Talent Watch to him. Yet Klopp has not called him up.
The reason is not that Klopp is ignoring him. On 21 October, during half-time of Bayern vs Arsenal, he told DAZN he is watching Tresoldi in Bruges and has spoken to him — just as Italy coach Roberto Mancini has. But he refuses to put pressure on the player: “We don’t have to chase after anyone either. The lad has to make that decision when he can make it, and that is absolutely fine.” (“Wir müssen auch niemandem hinterherlaufen. Der Junge muss das entscheiden in dem Moment, wo er es entscheiden kann. Dann ist das absolut fein.”)
The background: Tresoldi can choose Germany, Italy (through his father) or Argentina (through his mother), and he wants to decide after the U21 European Championship in summer 2027. A senior appearance for Germany in the Nations League — an official senior competition — would force him to make that decision now, instead of waiting until he is ready. Klopp respects that, and stressed it is a general principle, “not aimed at Tresoldi”. The door is still open — just not yet.
Who was cut, who is injured
Beyond the 20 names cut from the 44-man pool, the most eye-catching omissions are Nick Woltemade, Karim Adeyemi and David Raum — along with Jonathan Burkardt, Noah Atubolu and Chris Führich. For Woltemade, Klopp said bluntly: his form at Juventus in difficult circumstances is good, but he is “clearly lacking absolute goal threat” (“Die absolute Torgefahr geht ihm ab”). Still, he stressed no door is closed: “We’d be crazy to close doors on anyone.” (“Wir wären verrückt, wenn wir Türen zumachen würden.”)
Injuries have taken two Bayern stars: Jamal Musiala and Serge Gnabry are both out with muscle injuries. In the other direction, Philipp Treu — Freiburg’s new right-back — keeps his place after starting immediately on his debut in September. Klopp gave him a compliment in his own inimitable style: “He went from being a complete newcomer to an established player in the shortest time — that happened between two breakfasts.” (“Er hat sich in kürzester Zeit vom kompletten Neuling zum etablierten Spieler entwickelt, das ist zwischen zwei Frühstücken passiert.”)
The task: six points, or a first no one wants
The context for these two games could hardly be tenser. After four Nations League Group A2 matches, Germany sit third on five points — behind the Netherlands (eight points) and Greece (eight points), ahead of Serbia (zero points). Only the top two in the group reach the quarter-finals. Germany face not only missing the quarter-finals — they even face the risk of relegation from League A for the first time ever if they finish bottom of the group.
In other words: only two wins put qualification in Germany’s own hands — a draw would leave them depending on the Greece–Netherlands result going Germany’s way. Germany gather from Monday 9 November in Herzogenaurach, then:
Friday 13 November, 20:45 CET — Serbia vs Germany, Belgrade, BEHIND CLOSED DOORS (UEFA’s sanction against the Serbian FA). Vietnam time: 02:45 on Saturday 14 November.
Monday 16 November, 20:45 CET — Germany vs Netherlands, Olympiastadion Berlin. Vietnam time: 02:45 on Tuesday 17 November.
Our question for you: with this 24-man squad — does Füllkrug start, or is he the “super-sub” behind Havertz? Does Mohya get his debut at 17? And Tresoldi — by summer 2027, will Klopp still be waiting for him, or will that door have closed? Leave your answer in the comments.
Sources: kicker.de, Transfermarkt, fussballdaten.de, dpa (DFB-TV interview, 5/11/2026), DAZN (21/10/2026).
Read this article in Vietnamese: Klopp chốt 24 người cho tháng 11: Füllkrug trở lại, Mohya 17 tuổi lần đầu lên tuyển — và Tresoldi vẫn phải chờ
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