One major factor under Nagelsmann works in his favour: could it spark renewed World Cup hopes for the overlooked DFB star?

“I haven’t booked a holiday yet,” Andrich told Sky, adding: “I want to be there and I believe I have something to offer the team.” Nevertheless, his World Cup inclusion currently appears unlikely.

Yet the defensive utility man was one of the main beneficiaries of Nagelsmann’s arrival as national team manager. His progress accelerated under Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso, and during the club’s unbeaten championship campaign he anchored the holding midfield alongside Granit Xhaka—a partnership that mirrored the role Nagelsmann envisages beside Toni Kroos and Ilkay Gündogan for the home European Championship.

From November 2023 to the end of 2024, he appeared in every international match and started the majority. Since the Nations League quarter-final against Italy, however, he has managed only 17 minutes in the DFB jersey, spending most matches on the bench under Nagelsmann. He was then left out of the November 2025 and March 2026 training camps, suggesting his hopes of a late call-up are slim.

This is likely also because his role at Leverkusen has changed in the meantime. Under Kasper Hjulmand, Andrich mainly plays as a centre-back in a back three at Leverkusen – and Nagelsmann certainly isn’t short of centre-backs ahead of the World Cup, at least for the time being. Jonathan Tah, Nico Schlotterbeck, Antonio Rüdiger and Waldemar Anton have all secured their places in the World Cup squad.

In central midfield, Aleksandar Pavlovic, Leon Goretzka, Pascal Groß and the currently injured Felix Nmecha are ahead of him. Should Nmecha miss out, Angelo Stiller or Anton Stach would likely get the nod before Andrich. Nevertheless, the Leverkusen captain remains a key figure for Bayer 04 this term, chipping in with vital goals.

In the first leg of the Champions League last 16 against Arsenal, the Leverkusen captain rose to head the decisive 1-0. He later netted a long-range winner against BVB on Matchday 29. After that goal, Andrich revealed he had spoken to Nagelsmann earlier in the year and the coach had offered encouragement for a potential World Cup berth. “My chance is still there,” Andrich said. “It’s all about playing time and performance. I can’t fault myself in that regard. I’m on the pitch in every game.”

Shortly afterwards, Bild reported that Andrich remained a strong contender for the World Cup squad and even had a good chance of securing one of Nagelsmann’s final spots. The reason is simple: the midfielder is known as a team player who maintains a positive influence even from the bench. That human element is crucial at a World Cup, as Nagelsmann has often stressed.

“In club football, you usually go home after training and aren’t together all the time. With the national team it’s different: at the World Cup we’ll be sharing the same environment for eight or nine weeks, so personal compatibility is essential. Everyone has to get on well; we have to function on the pitch, but also off it,” the national coach explained in a recent MagentaTV interview. “You have to find out whether a player who is a regular at his club is also capable of taking on a super-sub role for the DFB.”

Such mental qualities could yet earn Andrich a spot on the plane to the United States.

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