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Bill Connelly
Multiple Authors
HOUSTON — At a news conference the evening before Germany’s first 2026 World Cup match against Curaçao, manager Julian Nagelsmann confirmed that goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was healthy enough to play after a recent calf injury.
Neuer, a starter for Germany’s 2014 World Cup title team, had not played for the national team since their 2-1 loss to Spain in the quarterfinals of Euro 2024.
But he agreed to return to the team after injuries to other German goalkeepers and after a bright run of personal form in the spring. He missed the DFB Pokal final with the injury in May but is indeed expected to play on Saturday.
Nagelsmann also confirmed that recent practices had been injury-free and that his squad should be fully healthy for Saturday.
The German team flew in from its base camp in North Carolina on Saturday afternoon, and Nagelsmann expressed happiness at both the match’s early kickoff — Germany and Curaçao will play at 1 p.m. ET so that it airs at prime time in Europe — and his own team’s acclimation to the heat of the United States.
“One of the biggest topics was to come as early as possible to the U.S. to adapt to the temperature,” he said.
“We have [had] a lot of training sessions, exhausting training sessions in the last seven days here in the U.S. to adapt. Also, we have some players who played the Club World Cup here [in 2025] and got used to the high temperatures.
“At least it’s the same for both teams in each game,” he said. “We have to drink a lot, stay hydrated. We have some things to do to cool down in the breaks and also during the game.”
Neuer isn’t the only veteran Nagelsmann was asked about in the news conference.
The match with Curaçao will pit the youngest head coach in the tournament (the 38-year-old Nagelsmann) with the oldest: Curaçao’s 78-year-old Dick Advocaat, who is coaching his eighth different national team.
“Dick Advocaat is a brilliant guy,” Nagelsmann said. “I think he’s a really cool coach [who’s done] a brilliant job in Curaçao.
“It’s incredible history that they qualify for the World Cup for the first time, and it’s also a great compliment for his work. It’s always [good] to talk to people with such experience. Me as a young coach, I always can learn from people like him.”
Advocaat had complimentary words for Nagelsmann at his own news conference later in the evening.
“He’s a young coach, young and famous. To already become the coach of the national team, you must have something special, and he has that. We will make life very difficult for him tomorrow, at least that’s what we try. But he’s an excellent coach.”
Nagelsmann was also asked if he wanted to still be coaching in 40 years at Advocaat’s age.
“Not really. I love my job, but I hope I have some different things to do in [that] age.”
