Preview: USA vs Germany - prediction, team news, lineups

Mauricio Pochettino meets Julian Nagelsmann on Saturday as 2026 World Cup co-hosts USA lock horns with four-time world champions Germany in a friendly at Soldier Field in Chicago.

The two nations do battle for the first time since October 2023 when Die Mannschaft came from behind to win a friendly 3-1 in Connecticut.

Match preview

Expectations are soaring for the USA as World Cup co-hosts alongside Canada and Mexico, yet replicating their historic 1930 semi-final run in this newly expanded 48-team tournament remains a towering challenge.

The Stars and Stripes are no strangers to football’s global event, having participated in eight of the last nine editions – their only absence during this period coming in 2018. However, former Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino will experience his first tournament as an international head coach this summer.

Bypassing the rigours of CONCACAF World Cup qualification as co-hosts, USA have had mixed success across nine friendly fixtures since suffering a 2-1 defeat to Mexico in the Gold Cup final in July last year.

Five wins, one draw and three defeats have been posted by the world’s 16th highest-ranked nation, with victories over Japan (2-0) and Uruguay (5-1) towards the end of 2025 standing out. Back-to-back defeats to Belgium (5-2) and Portugal (2-0) were suffered a few months ago, but they prevailed by a 3-2 scoreline in their most recent friendly against Senegal in Charlotte last Sunday.

USA will endeavour to win their first match against Germany since a 2-1 success in June 2015, before they prepare for three Group D fixtures at the World Cup against Paraguay, Australia and Turkey, facing the former in their opening match on June 13.

After suffering embarrassing group-stage eliminations at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, Germany are bidding to bounce back on the global stage this summer and become just the second nation after Brazil to win five World Cup trophies.

Not since 2014 have Die Mannschaft had their hands on the prestigious golden trophy, but there is optimism within Julian Nagelsmann’s camp that his talented squad, ranked 10th in the world by FIFA, can mount a serious challenge in North America.

Despite losing their opening match in UEFA qualifying, Germany won their remaining five fixtures to finish top of their group containing Slovakia, Northern Ireland and Luxembourg, concluding their campaign in style with an emphatic 6-0 triumph over the former in November 2025.

Germany have certainly found their groove under 38-year-old Nagelsmann, winning each of their last eight international matches across all competitions by an aggregate score of 27-5. Friendly victories over Switzerland (4-3) and Ghana (2-1) in March were followed by a comfortable 4-0 home success against Finland last weekend.

Die Mannschaft will back themselves to beat USA on Saturday having won five of their last seven meetings (L2) and they will hope to keep spirits high before taking on Curacao, Ivory Coast and Ecuador in Group E at the World Cup.

USA form (all competitions):

Germany form (all competitions):

Team News

USA defender Chris Richards missed the win over Senegal with an ankle injury and remains a doubt having only taken part in individual training sessions this week.

Pochettino will weigh up whether to revert to a four-at-the-back system or stick with a three-man defence including captain Tim Ream, Alex Freeman and Mark McKenzie, with Sergino Dest and Antonee Robinson providing width as wing-backs.

Captain marvel Christian Pulisic scored against Senegal and also found the net in the aforementioned friendly defeat to Germany in 2023. The AC Milan attacker is expected to start and could play alongside Ricardo Pepi and Borussia Monchengladbach’s Giovanni Reyna.

As for Germany, striker Deniz Undav has allayed fears of sustaining a serious injury after coming off early in the four-goal win over Finland last weekend in which he scored two goals and registered an assist.

Undav is unlikely to be risked against USA, while 40-year-old goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is still recovering from a calf strain, so Oliver Baumann is set to continue between the sticks.

After scoring and playing the full 90 minutes against Finland, Jamal Musiala’s minutes could be managed this weekend. Florian Wirtz may therefore take his place in the number 10 role, opening the door for Jamie Leweling to start on the left flank.

After scoring for Arsenal in last weekend’s Champions League final defeat to PSG, Kai Havertz arrived for Germany training on Tuesday and could be ready to feature against USA. However, Nick Woltemade or Maximilian Beier may be given the nod to begin as the central striker.

USA possible starting lineup:

Turner; Freeman, Ream, McKenzie; Dest, McKennie, Adams, Robinson; Reyna, Pepi, Pulisic

Germany possible starting lineup:

Baumann; Kimmich, Tah, Schotterbeck, Brown; Goretzka, Pavlovic; Karl, Wirtz, Leweling; Woltemade

We say: USA 1-2 Germany

An end-to-end, high-intensity contest could be in store between these two in-form nations, though Germany enter the weekend as distinct favourites.

USA have the tools to breach Germany’s backline, but Nagelsmann’s men possess greater overall strength and we are backing them to prevail in this World Cup dress rehearsal.

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