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Dual citizenship means Germany now in competition for talent
Dual citizenship means Germany now in competition for talent
Andreas Sten-Ziemons09/18/2026September 18, 2026Coach Jürgen Klopp has named several players to his first Germany squad who are eligible to play for other countries. Some still aren't committed to playing for thje national team long-term.
https://p.dw.com/p/5MrYzWhen Jürgen Klopp named his oversize squad for Germany for the upcoming international break, a number of other national team coaches will have taken notice.
Among them was Mohamed Ouahbi, of Morocco, who lamented that he had already had Eintracht Frankfurt striker Younes on his radar since last season.
"He had a profile that interested us. I spoke to him on the phone and explained the Morocco project to him — without making any promises," Ouahbi said.
If the 23-year-old Ebnoutalib sees any action in the UEFA Nations League over the next couple of weeks, as expected, he will be cap-tied to Germany — and ineligible to play for Morocco in the future.
Several players with multiple options
This is by no means a unique situation. A growing number of Germany players in recent years have held another citizenship through their parents and thus have other options for their international careers.
This applies to several members of Klopp's 44-man squad. Vitaly Janelt, whose father moved to Germany to play professional ice hockey, is also eligible to represent Czechia. Bambase Conte's father is from Guinea, and Josha Vagnoman has an Ivorian father. Finn Dahmen has an English mother, while fellow goalkeeper Noah Atubolu has Nigerian roots. Said El Mala's father hails from Lebanon, and Brajan Gruda's father was an Albania international.
All of them were all born and raised in Germany and have represented the country at youth levels. Vagnoman has even made two senior international appearances for Germany, though he has yet to play a competitive match.
High number of dual nationals
There are also numerous established Germany players who could have chosen another nation. These include Felix Nmecha (England), Kevin Schade (Nigeria), Jamal Musiala (Nigeria, England), Karim Adeyemi (Nigeria, Romania), Jonathan Tah and Serge Gnabry (Ivory Coast), Malick Thiaw (Senegal, Finland), Nathaniel Brown (USA), Nadiem Amiri (Afghanistan), Aleksandar Pavlovic (Serbia), Waldemar Anton (Russia), Yann Aurel Bisseck (Cameroon), and Ridle Baku (DR Congo).
The men's national team reflects German society as a whole: According to the Federal Statistical Office, 21.8 million of the country's approximately 83 million inhabitants have an immigrant background.
"More than 40% of children in Germany under the age of 5 have a migration background. This means they will later have the option to play for one country or the other," Andreas Rettig, the managing director for sport for Germany's DFB football association, told DW prior to the 2026 World Cup.
This forces the DFB to compete with other countries for talent for its national teams — and it hasn't always been successful.
A prime example is Ibrahim Maza of Bayer Leverkusen. Born and raised in Berlin to an Algerian father and a Vietnamese mother, he holds not just German but also Algerian and Vietnamese citizenship.
The midfielder possesses many qualities that could help Germany, yet two years ago he opted to play for Algeria and represented the "Desert Foxes" at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2026 World Cup.
Germany also missed out on Paul Wanner and Can Uzun. Wanner, a top prospect developed at Bayern Munich, chose Austria—his mother's home country. Can Uzun of Eintracht Frankfurt has been playing for Turkey since September 2024. Both took part in last summer's World Cup.
International break a cap-tying opportunity
Had Maza, Wanner and Uzun chosen Germany instead, each of them would have stood a good chance of being named to Klopp's first squad as national team coach.
With this international break featuring four instead of the previous customary two matches — and to see as many players as possible, Klopp named two squads for this break — every player selected has a strong chance of getting playing time.
The upcoming UEFA Nations League fixtures — away against the Netherlands, home and away against Greece, and at home against Serbia — are all competitive matches. This means that, even if it wasn't the primary factor in his selection process, over the next couple of weeks, Klopp could wind up cap-tying a few more players for Germany.
This article was adapted from German.
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