Germany Projected 2018 World Cup Team

Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.

My projected World Cup teams for Spain, Brazil, Germany, Argentina, England and France.

Final squad different vs my prediction on this blog
Out: Leroy Sane, Bernd Leno, Lars Stindl, Sandro Wagner

In: Kevin Trapp, Mario Gomez, Sebastian Rudy, Marco Reus.

* I was surprised that I did not select Marco Reus.  

This is my projection of Germany's 23 member squad at the 2018 World Cup Finals in Russia. At the time of writing(April, 2018), I came up with players with the most often used in recent games.

Team
GK: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)
Neuer established as Germany's number 1 before the World Cup Finals in 2010.  Since then, he has been considered one of the best keeper in the world. He helped Germany winning their 4th World Cup in 2014. In 2014, Neuer finished third in the voting, behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, for the FIFA Ballon d'Or award.  He started with Schalke 04, but moved to rival Bayern Munich in 2010. He is the second most expensive keeper of all-time.

Manuel Neuer 

GK: Marc-André ter Stegen (Barcelona)
After four seasons in the Bundesliga with Borussia Mönchengladbach, making 108 league appearances, he joined Barcelona for €12 million in 2014. He won the treble in his first season in Spain.  He was part of the German squads that reached the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 2016 and won the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.

GK: Bernd Leno (Bayer Leverkusen)
From 2009 to 2011, Leno played for Stuttgart II.  In 2011, he joined Bayer Leverkusen.  When he played on 13 September 2011, at the age of 19 years and 193 days, against Chelsea in the Champions League group stage he was the youngest goalkeeper to ever to play in a Champions League match.

RB: Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)
Kimmich played youth football for VfB Stuttgart before joining RB Leipzig in July 2013.  Since January of 2015, he played for Bayern Munich.  He is considered to be the future of German defence. He made his German debut in 2016.  He was a member of their Euro 2016 team.  He was was named in UEFA's Team of the Tournament.

Joshua Kimmich 

CB: Matthias Ginter (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Gingter made his professional debut in 2012 with Freiburg.  On 17 July 2014 Ginter signed for Borussia Dortmund on a five-year deal.  After three seasons, he moved to Borussia Mönchengladbach. In 2014, he made his national team debut.  In June, he was named as the youngest player in Germany's 23-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

CB: Jérôme Boateng (Bayern Munich)
Jérôme Boateng started his career with Hertha Berlin and SV Hamburger.  He played a single season with Manchester City before joining Bayern Munich.  He is the half-brother of Kevin-Prince Boateng.  Since the WC Finals of 2010, he is a major player for the national team.  In 2010, they became the first siblings to play against each other in a WC match.

CB: Niklas Süle (Bayern Munich)
From 2013 to 2017, Niklas Süle played for 1899 Hoffenheim.  In 2017, he signed with Bayern Munich.  He was part of the Geramn squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics, where Germany won the silver medal.  He was a member of the Confederations Cup team in 2017. He is of Hungarian origin.

CB: Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich)
Mats Hummels came through the Bayern Munich youth system, but only made one appearance with the senior team.  He signed with Borussia Dortmund in 2009 after a loan spell. Over there, he established himself among the best centerbacks in the world.  In 2016, he made a dramatic return to Bayern Munich.  For Germany, he was a part of the 2014 World Cup winning team, where he was voted into the team of tournament.

Mats Hummels

CB: Antonio Rüdiger (Chelsea)
Rüdiger began his career at VfB Stuttgart. In 2015 he transferred to Roma, initially on loan and a year later for a €9 million fee. He joined Chelsea in 2017.  Internationally, he missed UEFA Euro 2016 with injury but was part of the squad that won the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. His mother is originally from Sierra Leone. 

LB: Jonas Hector (FC Köln)
After beginning his youth career with SV Auersmacher in his home state of Saarland, Hector transferred to 1. FC Köln in 2010, whee he captained in 2016.  For Germany, he received his first cap in 2014.  He played in the European Championship of 2016.

LB: Marvin Plattenhardt (Hertha Berlin)
Born in 1992, Plattenhardt started his career with FC Nürnberg, where he graduated from the youth team.  He moved to Hertha Berlin in 2014.  He made his national team debut in 2017.  He was a member of the 2017 Confederation Cup in Russia.

CM/DM: Sami Khedira (Juventus)
He began his career at VfB Stuttgart, winning the Bundesliga in 2007, before moving to Real Madrid in 2010. In his five seasons in Spain, he won seven domestic and international trophies, including the UEFA Champions League in 2014. In 2015, he moved to Italian side Juventus on a free transfer, and immediately won the Serie A title in his first season with the club.  Earned over 70 caps.  He was a key player for Germany since 2009, winning the WC in 2014.

Sami Khedira 

CM/DM: Leon Goretzka (Schalke 04)
In 2012,  Leon Goretzka made his professional debut for the VfL Bochum in the 2. Bundesliga. A season later, he signed a contract with Bundesliga side Schalke 04.  At the time of writing, he has signed a contract to join Bayern Munich for the 2018-2019 season. He  named in the 30-man preliminary squad of the German national football team for the 2014 World Cup Finals, but failed to make the team because of an injury.

CM: Toni Kroos (Real Madrid)
A member of Bayern Munich's first team at the age of 17, Kroos won back-to-back Bundesliga titles and the 2012–13 Champions League. After winning the World Cup in 2014, he joined Real Madrid. In Madrid, he won two Champions League titles. He is a key player for Die Mannschaft since 2010.  He won the World Cup in 2014 as one of Germany's star players.

Toni Kroos 

CM: İlkay Gündoğan (Manchester City)
He began his career at VfL Bochum before joining 1. FC Nürnberg in 2009. Two years later he was signed by Borussia Dortmund for around €4 million, helping them finish runners-up the UEFA Champions League, scoring in the final. After 157 professional matches and 15 goals for Dortmund, he signed for Manchester City for an estimated fee of £21 million. Gündoğan made his senior international debut for Germany in 2011, and was part of their squad which reached the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 2012.

LW/AM: Julian Draxler (PSG)
Draxler made his Bundesliga debut for Schalke 04 aged 17 in January 2011.  In 2015, he joined Wolfsburg.  After a season and half, he moved to PSG in January of 2017.  Since 2012, he has been a member of the German national team.  He was a member of the World Cuop winning team in 2014.  He captained the 2017 Confederation Cup team.

AM: Mesut Özil (Arsenal)
Mesut Özil is a third generation German of Turkish decent.  He played for Schalke 04 and Werder Bremen before making a dream move to Real Madrid after South Africa 2010.  He moved to Arsenal in 2013, which was then a transfer record for German players.  For the national team., he was a part of Germany's World Cup winning team in 2014. At the time of writing, he has over 90 caps.

Mesut Özil 

LW/FW: Leroy Sané (Manchester City)
In 2014, Leroy Sané made his professional debut with Schalke 04. In 2016, he joined Manchester City.  He made his first senior national team debut in a friendly against France in 2015, where it was better remembered for thebNovember 2015 Paris attacks.  he was a member of Germany's Euro 2016 team.  His father was capped by Senegal.

LW: Julian Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen)
Brandt made his professional Bayer Leverkusen in 2014.  At the time of writing, he only played for them.  Between 20 March and 30 April 2016, he scored in six consecutive Bundesliga matches, becoming the youngest player since Gerd Müller to achieve this.  Since 2016, he has been capped by Germany, but did not to Euro 2016.  Instead, he was a member of the Olympic team in 2016.

FW: Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)
Thomas Muller made his professional debut the season before South Africa 2010 with Bayern Munich.   In South Africa, he won the Golden Boot as the top scorer.  Between the two World Cup Finals, Bayern Munich won one Champions' league and went to the Final two other times.  At Brazil 2014, he won Silver Boot by scoring 5 goals after helping Germany to win their first World Cup since 1990.

Thomas Muller 

FW: Sandro Wagner (Bayern Munich)
In 2007, Wagner made his debut with Bayern Munich, but he never settled down.  Then, he spent almost ten seasons playing for various clubs all over Germany. He spent time in the reserve teams as late as 2015 with Hertha Berlin.  He finally made a name with 1899 Hoffenheim for the 2016-2017 season, earning his first national callus in June, 2017.  He returned to Bayern Munich for the 2017-2018 season.

ST: Lars Stindl (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Stindl made his debut with Karlsruher SC in 2007. Between 2010 and 2015, he played for Hanover 96.  He moved to Borussia Mönchengladbach for the 2015–16 season, where he became their captain.  He was a member of 2017 Confederation Cup winning team, finishing as joint top goalscorer with three goals.

ST: Timo Werner (Red Bull Leipzig)
Upon making his senior debut in 2013, Werner became the youngest player ever to represent VfB Stuttgart and later became the club's youngest ever goalscorer.  In 2016, Werner joined RB Leipzig, becoming the most expensive player ever in RB Leipzig club history. He is the youngest player ever to play 150 matches in the Bundesliga.  For the national team, Werner was awarded the tournament's Golden Boot for 2017 Confederation Cup.

Timo Werner

Players considered
Emre Can, Mario Gotze, Sebastian Rudy, Mario Gomes, Marco Reus, Julian Weigl.

Squad Explanation

-- At the time of writing, Neuer is injured, but he would return by the time of the World Cup Finals.
-- Mario Gotze and André Schürrle have not been used by Die Mannschaft. I doubt that  Joachim Löw would select them. 
-- Joachim Löw has not selected Marco Reus since his return from his injury.  He is probably at risk, given Julian Draxler, Leroy Sane and Julian Brandt also played in similar position. They are probably in sure. I really wanted to select him because he missed several major tournaments because of injuries, but it is unlikely to happen.
-- Leon Goretzka plays regularly during the 2017-2018 season for Germany.
-- Antonio Rüdiger has played a lot since the Confederation Cuo while Shkodran Mustafi has not been called this year.
-- Both Sandro Wagner and Lars Stindl also continued to receive call-ups since the Confederation Cup. The should make the team ahead Mario Gomes.
-- Emre Can struggled with injuries this season.  He should be playing for Liverpool in the semifinal against AS Roma, but I am keeping him out as of today(April, 2018).

Formation
If Marco Reus made the World Cup squad, he probably would start on the left. I feel Leroy Sane might also start ahead of Draxler.