World Cup dream once ended: Germany star dropped for team-mate? | OneFootball

"I have to say, I expected to be included," a visibly shocked Benjamin Henrichs said in a video ahead of the 2022 World Cup in response to Hansi Flick leaving him out of the squad. At the time, he told fans on his stream that it had been totally disappointing for him.

Henrichs explained that he had been involved in all of Germany’s internationals in 2022, which was why he had felt confident. However, the full truth is also that in eight matches he only came on twice and was on the pitch for just 68 minutes.

Even though he did not address it in the stream, what must also have stung was the fact that Flick nominated his teammate Lukas Klostermann instead of Henrichs. At the time, he was one of the surprise names in the squad, as Klostermann had previously been out injured for three months. Nevertheless, the then Germany coach opted against a fit Henrichs and chose Klostermann instead.

Henrichs on the back foot

He was said to be flexible enough to play in a back three, four, or five, according to a report by 'rblive' at the time. He likely also got the nod over Henrichs because of his reliability. Former Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann once said that if he woke Klostermann up in the middle of the night and told him, "Now bread a few schnitzels for me," he would do that too.

Klostermann went to the World Cup and even played a few minutes, but as we know, it was only a short stay in Qatar for the German team. Their tournament ended after the group stage.

In a way, that also felt like the end of Klostermann’s international career. He was still called up for a few friendlies in 2023, but by now he is only a benchwarmer at club level as well and as far away from a World Cup ticket as Leipzig are from an international title this season.

📸 Frederic Scheidemann - 2025 Getty Images

So Henrichs no longer has to worry about him. But with an eye on the 2026 World Cup, he ended up slowing himself down. In the winter of 2024, he tore his right Achilles tendon in an away game in Munich.

He was out for more than a year afterward. During that time, he received many messages — also from former teammates such as Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool) and Dani Olmo (Barça). Both offered to let him do parts of his rehab with them. Joshua Kimmich had also checked in on the Leipzig player and written to him regularly. Henrichs, 29, made a point of thanking the Bayern and Germany captain again, as he revealed in an interview with 'kicker': "Because I don’t take it for granted, how often he wrote to me and how much he looked out for me."

Is a déjà vu looming?

Then, at the start of 2026, Henrichs made his comeback. After brief substitute appearances, he has already been allowed to start twice as well. But he still has not been on the pitch for a full 90 minutes. Still, when he scored in last week’s 5-0 win over Hoffenheim, all of Leipzig probably felt like hugging him. 

"I think you could see what that meant from his celebration and also from the reaction of the team and the stadium. Everyone knows what a journey Benny has been through over the last few months. Now he’s back involved again," Ole Werner said after the win. The Leipzig man has an exceptional character and is "a blessing for every team," his coach explained. With the emphasis on "every."

But to secure a World Cup ticket with the German national team, Henrichs needs playing time. Yet he may be facing a déjà vu. Klostermann is no longer a rival, but another Leipzig player is still dreaming of the tournament this summer: Ridle Baku. 

Ole Werner currently has a tough choice over who to field at right-back. He has "two really, really good lads," which does not make the decision any easier. So will Henrichs be snubbed by the next Germany coach and have to watch his teammate go to the World Cup? For the current international break, neither of the two was called up, while Stuttgart’s Josha Vagnoman has been given the chance to impress Nagelsmann.

However, the Germany coach did get in touch with Henrichs at the start of January. "He wrote to me again recently, and in my eyes that was actually relatively good news," Henrichs revealed to 'kicker' during training camp. 

So it is not completely out of the question that he could still jump on the World Cup train — four years late. And who knows, maybe in May we’ll see a stream from Benjamin Henrichs in which he announces how happy he is to be part of the tournament in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. In fact, he had supposedly had a bad feeling beforehand. After all, he had not been called up for an international for quite a while before the World Cup squad announcement.

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

📸 Neil Baynes - 2024 Getty Images