National team
European Championship ticket for debutant Pavlovic – point the finger to Goretzka
Bayern’s Aleksandar Pavlovic is in the DFB team’s provisional European Championship squad. photo
© Tom Weller/dpa
Julian Nagelsmann relies on Aleksandar Pavlovic from Munich. The 20-year-old is the third professional to receive a European Championship confirmation. This is not good news for an experienced club colleague.
The 20-year-old midfielder is part of the national soccer team’s squad for this summer’s home tournament, which was announced on the RTL program “Exclusiv – Das Starmagazin”. Presenter Frauke Ludowig (60) wore a jersey with his name on the show.
The German Football Association (DFB) continued its unusual nomination practice. Defender Nico Schlotterbeck from Borussia Dortmund had previously been announced as European Championship players on Sunday evening on the ARD “Tagesschau” and defender Jonathan Tah from Bayer Leverkusen in a social media clip.
The DFB accompanies this news on its Instagram account. More nominations are expected Tuesday and Wednesday. The official presentation of the European Championship squad will follow on Thursday (1 p.m.) in the branch of general sponsor VW in Berlin.
Pavlovic still without an international match
Pavlovic started this season at FC Bayern in the defensive midfield position, appearing in 18 Bundesliga games (2 goals) and three times in the Champions League. However, the Munich native has not yet played for the senior national team. Nagelsmann appointed him for the first time in March. However, an infection prevented him from making his debut in the games against France (2:0) and the Netherlands (2:1).
Pavlovic could also have played for the national team of European Championship participant Serbia, but chose Germany. Nagelsmann recently described him as a promising player for the 2026 World Cup. He could now make his debut in the European Championship tests on June 3rd in Nuremberg against Ukraine or four days later in Mönchengladbach against Greece.
With Pavlovic’s nomination confirmation, his Munich club colleague Leon Goretzka’s chances at the European Championships continue to decline. The 29-year-old was surprisingly no longer nominated by Nagelsmann in March, but was recently hoping for a comeback again. Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) and Leverkusen’s Robert Andrich are currently seeded in the sixth position. In addition to Pavlovic, Pascal Groß from the English club Brighton & Hove Albion is considered to have the best chance of being a backup in the squad for this role.
The DFB had already created unusual images with Tah’s online nomination that morning. In an Instagram clip, geriatric nurse Rashid Hamid, who is known for his social media appearances, presents a European Championship jersey with the number 93 to the senior citizen known as Grandma Lotti – a cake with a picture of Tah ended up hidden in a box.
Tah placed as central defender
Tah’s nomination was no surprise. The 28-year-old is having an outstanding season with champions Leverkusen and was named by Nagelsmann as a regular in central defense alongside Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid) during the successful European Championship tests in March. He has played 23 international matches for the DFB team since 2016, but Tah has not yet played in a major tournament.