National football team
DFB team starts the World Cup year against Switzerland
Switzerland is the national team’s first opponent in the World Cup year. Which opponents are still waiting for Julian Nagelsmann before the tournament and what is already known about the preparation plan.
Julian Nagelsmann will start the 2026 World Cup with the national team with a test match in Switzerland. As the German Football Association announced, there will be a duel with the Swiss in Basel on March 27th. Another important date has now been officially set: On June 2nd, the DFB team will fly from Frankfurt to Chicago for the World Cup in the USA.
The game against Switzerland is the first of four test opportunities for the national coach before the finals from June 11th to July 19th in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
“Since the draw, the World Cup has been within reach for all of us – and the anticipation of a top-class sporting tournament is huge. Now every training session and, above all, every international match on the way to the World Cup is doubly valuable. Switzerland is a great opponent less than three months before we start the tournament, they will demand everything from us,” said Nagelsmann.
A replacement for Ivory Coast is still being sought. The African champion was drawn alongside Curacao and Ecuador as one of the DFB team’s World Cup group opponents and is therefore not available for the second test on March 30th (8:45 p.m.) in Stuttgart as planned.
World Cup dress rehearsal against the USA in Chicago
On May 31st (8:45 p.m.) Finland will be the last test opponent in Mainz, two days before departure to America. In Chicago, Nagelsmann will face co-host USA on June 6th (8:30 p.m./CET). The DFB team then moves to their tournament base camp.
The DFB has not yet announced its World Cup hotel. Nagelsmann and DFB sports director Rudi Völler visited the preferred location again after the group draw in Washington last Friday.
With 54 games, the DFB team has played against Switzerland more often than any other opponent in their international game history. The last meeting so far was in June 2024. At the home European Championship, Niclas Füllkrug scored the goal to make it 1-1 in the last group game shortly before the end and thus secured first place after the preliminary round. “The games against Switzerland were always special – it won’t be any different this time,” said Nagelsmann.
In the World Cup group phase, Germany will face World Cup newcomer Curacao in Houston on June 14th (7 p.m./CET). Ivory Coast will be the second opponent in Toronto, Canada on June 20th (10 p.m./CET). The preliminary round for the DFB team will be completed against Ecuador on June 25th (10 p.m./CET) in the final stadium in East Rutherford near New York.
dpa
