Former midfielder of the German national team Toni Kroos believes they were lucky with their group in the qualification for the 2026 World Cup.
"We are very lucky to be in a group from which it is impossible to be eliminated. I don’t think we lack mentality. I think it’s more a matter of self-confidence and quality. It seems that there is a greater fear of making mistakes. This has nothing to do with a lack of mentality. It seemed that they were not full of confidence.
It will always be like this: Slovakia will always be more motivated than Germany in a direct match. It’s simply because a team with lesser quality knows they need to strive harder than their opponents. The difference is that in the past, Germany had enough quality to win," said Kroos in his podcast Einfach mal Luppen.
Let us remember that the German national team will compete for a spot in the 2026 World Cup alongside Slovakia, Northern Ireland, and Luxembourg.