Bernd Neuendorf, President of the DFB, takes part in the press conference at the end of the 45th German Football Association National Cogress in Hesse Arne Dedert/dpaDPAThu, December 4, 2025 at 10:42 AM UTC·2 min readGermany must not be over-confident at Friday's World Cup group draw, given the team's rocky qualifying campaign, its football federation (DFB) president, Bernd Neuendorf, has said.
"We should not make the mistake to believe that there are easy und difficult groups," Neuendorf said in Switzerland after UEFA meetings.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"Many teams, even from supposedly smaller countries, have players who play in Europe, in great leagues and for great clubs. A little humility is called for here."
Neuendorf said that defeat in Slovakia at the start of qualifying and two close games against Northern Ireland "should be warning enough for us not to underestimate such teams."
Germany will be in pot one for the draw as part of the nine top ranked nations in the world. The pot also includes the three host nations United States, Canada and Mexico.
Four-time champions Germany will avoid the likes of title holders Argentina, European champions Spain, France or England.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBut opponents could be Colombia or Uruguay, Erling Haaland's Norway or Italy, if the Azzurri qualify via the play-offs. Germany could also face South Korea or Japan, who beat them in 2018 and 2022, respectively, when the Germans went out in the group stage.
Germany could also face a debutant such as Uzbekistan, Cape Verde or Curacao, which for coach Julian Nagelsmann is part of the World Cup appeal.
"In the preliminary round it is also appealing to play against a country that you wouldn't normally encounter in qualifying and Nations League matches. This has been the case for the national team at previous World Cups," he said.
"Every country has earned its place in the World Cup and on the big stage," Nagelsman added.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNeuendorf struck a similar line, saying: "Football has undergone tremendous development all over the world, and especially in Europe. The teams that are competing and are in the draw pots are there for a reason."
The German delegation including Neuendorf, Nagelsmann and sporting director Rudi Völler was set to fly to Washington later on Thursday.
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