Havertz fires back at Lineker after 'weakest Germany ever' World Cup verdict

Kai Havertz has publicly dismissed Gary Lineker’s assessment that this Germany squad is “one of the weakest” he has ever seen, insisting the four-time world champions are paying no attention to external noise as they prepare to face Paraguay in the World Cup Round of 32.

Lineker made the remarks in an interview with French outlet L’Equipe, offering a blunt verdict on Julian Nagelsmann’s side. “I think, I could be wrong, that this is one of the weakest German national teams I’ve seen,” the former England striker said. “Remember that they didn’t even make it out of the group stage of the last two World Cups. So I think you can sleep soundly.”

Havertz was equally direct in his response. “Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I didn’t even notice it myself,” the Arsenal forward said. “Of course, at a tournament like this, a lot of people start talking about you. I don’t think anyone really pays much attention. We already have plenty of experts in our own country — if it starts happening in other countries too, then at some point enough is enough. It’s always easy to criticise us from the outside. But I really couldn’t care less.”

Germany did end their unwanted run of group-stage exits — they were eliminated in the group phase at both the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 tournament in Qatar — but their passage through this time has been far from convincing. They beat Curacao and Ivory Coast, the latter requiring two goals from substitute Deniz Undav to seal qualification, before suffering a 2-1 defeat to Ecuador in their final group game.

Ecuador, ranked 23rd by FIFA, came from behind to beat Germany thanks to Gonzalo Plata’s goal 13 minutes from time, after Nilson Angulo had cancelled out Leroy Sané’s opener. The result was widely described as one of the biggest upsets of the tournament.

Nagelsmann himself has not escaped scrutiny, with Jürgen Klopp widely reported as a potential successor should Germany’s campaign falter. The former Bayern Munich coach faces a pivotal few weeks to demonstrate he is the right man to restore Germany’s standing on the international stage.