World Cup 2026 with another nation? DFB fear losing next Bundesliga talent | OneFootball

Does the DFB have to worry about losing another German talent? Ilyas Ansah has made it into the German U21 national team after a strong start at Union Berlin.

With four goals and one assist after ten matchdays, the Köpenick player is one of the shooting stars of the current season. As a reward, he made his debut for the German U21 in September. He scored immediately against Albania. The attacking player has also been nominated by coach Antonio Di Salvo for the current squad.

However, his development has also been closely watched by another nation. According to 'kicker', the Ghanaian Football Association would like to convince the striker to switch associations. They are not only monitoring his performances but are also said to be making a strong effort to recruit him.

With Otto Addo, the Ghanaian association currently has a coach who knows Germany very well and played in the Bundesliga himself. As early as November 2024, Addo mentioned Ansah as a possible reinforcement for his team in an interview with 'transfermarkt.de'. At that time, the striker was still playing for Paderborn.

Ghana could have at least one decisive advantage in luring Ansah. The nation has already qualified for the 2026 World Cup. He could therefore be part of the tournament next year. However, a call-up to the senior national team in the near future seems rather unlikely.

He would not be the first talent, and certainly not the last, to choose another nation. Only recently, Ibrahim Maza, among others, decided to play for the Algerian national team after previously coming up through the German youth teams.

Coach Julian Nagelsmann had a clear opinion on this at the press conference on Monday. He does not want to pressure any player to choose Germany. "If I were a player, I wouldn't ask myself whether I have the opportunity to play somewhere when it comes to the national team. Instead, the question must be: Do I want to play there or not? Am I proud to play for this country? Or not?"

The national coach only wants to convince those players "who he feels truly want to play for Germany. Otherwise, it makes no sense."

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

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