There's no doubt whatsoever that the German national team is presently placed first in the FIFA rankings. Germany is the current world champion after beating Argentina 1-0 to secure the German's fourth World Cup in the global event that was staged in Brazil. The Germans didn't stop after clinching the world crown as Joachim Loew's side defeated Chile 1-0 to win their first Confederation Cup in history after three attempts.
England will be hosting Germany at the famous Wembley Stadium where the Three Lions won their only World Cup trophy in 1966.
The match will lay bare the memories of the 1966 World Cup in which England defeated Germany 4-2 to clinch the title with Geoff Hurst opening scoring. The goal remains one of the most controversial ones in the global event.
Talking points
- The two sides have met on 34 occasions where a winner has emerged, except in three matches that have ended in stalemates. The Germans have emerged victorious 16 times while the Three Lions have prevailed on 15 occasions.
- Both England and Germany have qualified for the 2018 World Cup to be staged in Russia after topping their respective groups thus getting the automatic berths. The Germans qualified for the global event after garnering the maximum points by winning all the ten matches in Group C, while England won eight matches and drew in the remaining two games in their Group F.
- Germany has been impressive the last four World Cup events with the European giants reaching semi-finals stages all the events. However, the Germans have only won the title on one occasion during their excellent run and finished runners-up once, with the remaining two attempts ending in third finishes.
- All the English national team players ply their trades in the Premier League, while the Germans have players in the topmost English tier. Bastian Schweinsteiger, Jurgen Klinsmann, and Michael Ballack are the former German captains who represented their national team while playing in the Premier League. The last England player to represent the Three Lions while playing Germany's Bundesliga was Owen Hargreaves who played for Bayern Munich.
- The captains of both teams will be missing this match due to injuries. England captain Harry Kane is sidelined with a slight injury, though Tottenham Hotspurs's manager said that the striker is as fit as a fiddle, and will feature in the North-London derby when Premier League resumes. German skipper, Manuel Neuer has been out of both club and national duty for sometimes.
Team news
The hosts will be missing dependable players including Raheem Sterling, Fabian Delph, Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli, Harry Winks and Danny Drinkwater who all pulled out of the team with injuries.
However, Gareth Southgate has a squad depth to cover up for the absentees.
This is how England could line up against the world champions with the formation of 4-2-3-1; Joe Hart, Kyle Walker, Ryan Bertrand, John Stones, Gary Cahill, Marcus Rashford, Jake Livermore, Eric Dier, Danny Rose, Jesse Lingard and Jamie Vardy.
The German team will be missing some players with injuries including Manuel Neuer.
With a 4-2-3-1 formation, Joachim Loew is likely to include the high flying Hoffenheim striker Timo Werner, who has already netted five goals in just five appearances in the national shirt. Here's how Germany is likely to line up against England; Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, Joshua Kimmich, Marvin Plattenhardt, Mats Hummels, Niklas Suele, Julian Brandt, Sami Khedira, Toni Kroos, Julian Draxler, Mesut Oezil, and Timo Werner.
Full-time prediction: England 3-2 Germany
