Story byLothar Matthaeus stands on the pitch ahead of the FIFA World Cup European Qualifiers Group A soccer match between Germany and Northern Ireland. Rolf Vennenbernd/dpaDPAWed, December 31, 2025 at 11:40 AM UTC·1 min readFormer Germany captain Lothar Matthäus expects the Germany national team to reach the semi-finals at the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada. In a prediction game for the Sport Bild weekly, Matthäus added that he, however, expects the team to lose to European champions Spain in the final four. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn this scenario, "Germany could be satisfied with their performance as things stand today. Reaching the semifinals would be a success," he said."But who knows: maybe Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala, Nick Woltemade and the others will conjure up such a frenzy during the tournament that they'll go even further.
