The Germany XI that will NOT be featuring at the 2018 FIFA World Cup

The two players who combined to score the winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final have been left out
The two players who combined to score the winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final have been left out

Central defenders: Shkodran Mustafi and Benedikt Höwedes

Howedes and Mustafi are World Cup winning defenders
Howedes and Mustafi are World Cup winning defenders

The two central defenders featuring in this list are both World Cup winners! This shows that Low emphasizes performance and form.

Mustafi was also part of the Confederations Cup winning squad in 2017 but the Arsenal man had a torrid season. In fact, he was one of the worst defenders in the league this season. The 26-year-old was on his way to Inter Milan at the start of the season with Arsenal happy to let him go initially before making a U-turn and keeping him. Fair to say that both parties didn’t benefit from that.

As for Howedes, the former Schalke captain finally left his boyhood club, albeit on loan, but the injury problems that plagued him for years followed him to Turin. He had five different injuries during the course of the season and featured in only three games for Juventus all season. No surprise that he was left out of the World Cup squad.

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Edited by Amar Anand
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