Kimmich Urges German National Team to Overcome Struggles Against Lower-Ranked Opponents ahead of World Cup Qualification
Sinsheim, Germany – Captain Joshua Kimmich has expressed confidence in the German national soccer team’s ability to compete with top-tier opponents, but stressed the urgent need to improve performance against teams considered less formidable. The call to action comes as Germany prepares for a crucial World Cup qualification match against Luxembourg on October 10th in Sinsheim.
Kimmich highlighted recent struggles as a key concern, stating, “At the moment, our problem is that we have problems against the small teams. And we have to park these problems so that we become more confident.” He believes resolving this issue is paramount to securing qualification for the 2026 World cup in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. Only the group winner earns a direct ticket to the tournament; otherwise, Germany faces a playoff round in March.
The German team recently faced difficulties in qualifying matches, suffering a 2-0 defeat in Slovakia and securing a narrow 3-1 victory against Northern Ireland.Kimmich emphasized that improving against these types of opponents will unlock the team’s potential to defeat the world’s best. “Now the goal must first be that we qualify for the tournament at all,” he said. “If you can better assert yourself against supposedly smaller opponents and this increase, then I have no concerns that you can beat the best teams in the world and in Europe in 90 minutes or 120 minutes.”
Luxembourg, who recently challenged Slovakia with a narrow 1-0 loss, presents another potentially tricky encounter for the German side.
