Euro 2024 hosts Germany announce preliminary 27-man squad - Who makes the cut? Which stars have missed out?

UEFA confirmed earlier this month that squad sizes have been increased from 23 to 26 players for this year's eagerly-anticipated continental tournament, and all squads must include at least three goalkeepers.

Julian Nagelsmann replaced Hansi Flick as head coach in September last year and he has since had eight months to prepare for the Euros and made a final decision on his squad selection.

From Monday, Germany have gradually announced each member of Nagelsmann's team, with the German FA using celebrities and supporters to reveal the first 18 names ahead of Thursday's official announcement in Berlin.

Nine more names have now been confirmed to complete Nagelsmann's 27-man squad, but one of those players will be omitted at a later date.

Here, Sports Mole takes a look at Germany's preliminary squad for Euro 2024, who has been selected and who are the unfortunate players to miss out.

Which German stars have been selected?

Nagelsmann has selected a total of four goalkeepers including veteran shot-stopper and 117-cap international Manuel Neuer, who at the age of 38 is gearing up for his eighth major tournament with Germany.

Neuer is joined in the goalkeeping department by Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Oliver Baumann and Alexander Nubel, the latter has earned his first senior international call-up after starring on loan at Stuttgart from Bayern Munich, keeping 10 clean sheets in 29 Bundesliga matches.

Stuttgart duo Waldemar Anton and Maximilian Mittelstadt, who have just three caps between them, are among the nine defenders named in Germany's squad along with Antonio Rudiger, Nico Schlotterbeck, Jonathan Tah, Robin Koch, Benjamin Henrichs, David Raum and Joshua Kimmich, the latter is down as a defender even though he has also featured regularly in midfield for club and country.

Nagelsmann's midfield offers a mixture of youth and experience and one of the most notable picks is that of 20-year-old uncapped starlet Aleksandar Pavlovic, who has enjoyed a breakthrough season at Bayern Munich, featuring 21 times in all competitions.

Pavlovic is of Serbian descent and the Serbian FA allegedly sent a delegation to meet the midfielder and his family in March, but the Munich-born youngster has instead opted to represent the country of his birth.

Ilkay Gundogan, 33, has been named Germany's captain for Euro 2024, while 34-year-old Toni Kroos and 32-year-old Pascal Gross are other midfield options at Nagelsmann's disposal along with Robert Andrich, Chris Fuhrich, Jamal Musiala, Leroy Sane and Florian Wirtz, the latter three are also able to play in attack.

The most-capped member of Germany's squad is Thomas Muller (128), with the experienced forward called up alongside Arsenal's Kai Havertz and Borussia Dortmund's Niclas Fullkrug.

Having scored 15 Bundesliga goals for Hoffenheim this season, uncapped 21-year-old Maximilian Beier has been rewarded with a call-up, as has one-cap international Deniz Undav who has scored 18 league goals on loan at Stuttgart.

Which German stars will miss Euro 2024?

Two of the standout names who will not represent Germany at this summer's tournament are Dortmund's experienced defender Mats Hummels and Bayern midfielder Leon Goretzka.

Hummels, who was recently named Man of the Match in both legs of Dortmund's Champions League semi-final win over Paris Saint-Germain, boasts 78 Germany caps to his name, but he has been omitted for the second consecutive major tournament, while 57-cap Goretzka has failed to make the cut after playing at the 2022 World Cup.

Nagelsmann has since revealed that both players are "very disappointed" to miss out on Euro 2024, telling reporters on Thursday: "I had longer conversations with both of them. The talks were at the beginning of the week. Of course, both players are extremely disappointed.

"Even as a club coach, I had real problems having these conversations before important games. Telling a player he's not going to play at a European Championship at home has different consequences and isn't nice. But keeping the information secret is even worse.

"In the end, however, as head coach I have to make a decision in the interest of the team. They were both very disappointed, which is understandable, but I tried to explain things. They weren't bad conversations, but of course I've had more pleasant ones."

Speaking specifically about the omission of Goretzka, Nagelsmann added: "It wasn't nasty. Of course these conversations are always emotional. There are different characters who react differently. Some say nothing on the phone, others want a detailed explanation.

"The shortest conversation lasted 1:11 minutes, the longest 22:30 minutes. It hurts me to give a rejection like that, it hurts him, so it's normal for emotions to arise, but it wasn't malicious on either side."

Hummels's Dortmund teammates Julian Brandt, Karim Adeyemi, Emre Can, Niklas Sule and Felix Nmecha have also been left out of Nagelsmann's squad, as has Bayern attacker Serge Gnabry, who has been hampered with injuries this term, and Manchester City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega, who has impressed when called upon by Pep Guardiola.

Kevin Trapp, Lukas Klostermann, Armel Bella-Kotchap, Matthias Ginter, Christian Gunter, Thilo Kehrer, Jonas Hofmann, Youssoufa Moukoko and Mario Gotze - who scored the winner in the 2014 World Cup final - were all part of the Germany squad in Qatar at the 2022 World Cup, but they will not be involved at Euro 2024.

What are Germany's pre-tournament preparations?

Those that have been selected in Germany's preliminary 27-man squad will link up at the national team's training camp in Blankenhain in Weimarer Land on May 26, although those who play for Dortmund are set to arrive at a later date as they will compete in the Champions League final on June 1.

Germany will then move to their Euro 2024 base camp in Herzogenaurach ahead of warm-up fixtures against Ukraine in Nuremberg on June 3 and against Greece in Monchengladbach on June 7.

Die Mannschaft, three-time winners of the European Championships, will kick-start this summer's tournament with a group-stage fixture against Scotland at the Allianz Arena on June 14.

Germany's preliminary 27-man squad for Euro 2024:

Goalkeepers: Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Alexander Nubel (Stuttgart), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona)

Defenders: Waldemar Anton (Stuttgart), Benjamin Henrichs (RB Leipzig), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Robin Koch (Eintracht Frankfurt), Maximilian Mittelstsdt (Stuttgart), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen)

Midfielders: Robert Andrich (Bayer Leverkusen), Chris Fuhrich (Stuttgart), Pascal Gross (Brighton & Hove Albion), Ilkay Gundogan (Barcelona), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Aleksandar Pavlovic (Bayern Munich), Leroy Sane (Bayern Munich), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)

Attackers: Maximilian Beier (Hoffenheim), Niclas Fullkrug (Borussia Dortmund), Kai Havertz (Arsenal), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Deniz Undav (Stuttgart)