Euro 2024 hosts Germany confirm 26-man squad - Who makes the cut? Which stars have missed out?

UEFA announced last 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 nine months to prepare for the Euros and made a final decision on his squad selection.

Die Mannschaft are bidding to win a record-extending fourth European Championship title and have been drawn in Group A with Scotland, Hungary and Switzerland.

Here, Sports Mole takes a look at Germany's 26-man 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 three goalkeepers including veteran shot-stopper and 119-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 and Oliver Baumann, the latter is the only member of Nagelsmann's final squad who is yet to make his senior international debut.

Stuttgart duo Waldemar Anton and Maximilian Mittelstadt, who have just six 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 starlet Aleksandar Pavlovic, who has enjoyed a breakthrough season at Bayern Munich.

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 and made his senior debut in a friendly clash with Ukraine on June 3.

Ilkay Gundogan, 33, has been named as Germany's captain for Euro 2024, while 34-year-old Toni Kroos - who will be retiring after the tournament - 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 (129), who has been called up alongside Arsenal's Kai Havertz and Borussia Dortmund's Niclas Fullkrug.

After scoring 15 Bundesliga goals for Hoffenheim last season, one-cap 21-year-old Maximilian Beier has been rewarded with a call-up, as has two-cap international Deniz Undav who scored 18 league goals on loan at Stuttgart in 2023-24.

Which German stars will miss Euro 2024?

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

Hummels, who was named Man of the Match in both legs of Dortmund 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 last month: "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 Goretzka's omission, 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.

Alexander Nubel, meanwhile, received his first senior international call-up at the end of last month after starring on loan at Stuttgart from Bayern Munich, but the goalkeeper has now been cut from Nagelamann's squad.

What are Germany's pre-tournament preparations?

Nagelsmann's squad initially linked up at the national team's training camp in Blankenhain, Weimarer Land on May 26, before moving to their Euro 2024 base camp in Herzogenaurach prior to their 0-0 friendly draw with Ukraine in Nuremberg on June 3.

Germany returned to winning ways four days later, though, as they came from behind to beat Greece by a 2-1 scoreline in their final warm-up match held in Monchengladbach.

Die Mannschaft will remain at their base camp as they prepare for their opening Group A game of Euro 2024 against Scotland at the Allianz Arena on June 14, before facing Hungary on June 19 and then Switzerland on June 23.

Germany's 26-man squad for Euro 2024:

Goalkeepers: Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), 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)