With a mental coach to the World Cup? He's in Nagelsmann's plans

With a mental coach to the World Cup? He's in Nagelsmann's plans

Julian Nagelsmann has a problem. A luxury problem. All of a sudden, there is once again a player making a strong case for himself in attacking midfield, even though a place at the 2026 World Cup seemed virtually unthinkable for him just six months ago.

After a disastrous first half of the season, Paul Nebel is currently in outstanding form. That surely will not have escaped the national team coach either. But what has changed within just a few months, and is a strong second half of the season enough to earn a World Cup ticket?

Quite a lot, would probably be the fitting answer at first glance when it comes to Nebel and his club Mainz 05. After a nightmare start to the season, Urs Fischer took over at the Palatinate club on December 7.

In Fischer’s 5-3-2 system, Nebel had fully taken control of the midfield again by the time teammate Nadim Amiri got injured at the end of February. “I’ve felt very comfortable on the pitch in the last few games. I can move into the half-spaces, but also drift out wide, deliver crosses and dribble one-on-one,” Nebel explained to the club’s media department in March.

📸 Alex Grimm - 2026 Getty Images

The statistics also show impressively just how comfortable he has felt lately. Since February 28, 2026, Nebel has contributed three assists and four goals in eleven games. Before that, he had managed just two goal contributions in 23 matches this season. Alongside Fischer, the 23-year-old said it was above all a mental coach who helped pull him out of his slump:

“That helps me look at things from a different perspective, process them and not let them affect me so much, so I can come out of situations like that even stronger.” Strong enough to be in contention for the World Cup again?

What is clear is that Paul Nebel would initially have to settle for a place on Germany’s bench either way. Right now, there is no getting past Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz in the No. 10 role. Coming off the bench, however, the Mainz man could be exactly the right choice. After all, games are rarely decided by the starting XI alone.

Much like Musiala & Wirtz, he can be found all over midfield during a game, can create chances and has a tremendously strong finish. Those are qualities that have impressed Julian Nagelsmann before. Even though Nebel did not make an international appearance in August 2025, he was called up to the senior Germany squad for the first time for the World Cup qualifiers.

Before that, he had shone at the U21 European Championship and secured extra time for Germany in the final with a world-class goal. We’ll keep quiet about how that match ended. After the August call-up, however, Nagelsmann turned to Nebel’s teammate instead.

After strong performances for Mainz last year, Nadim Amiri played for Germany again for the first time in five years. At Mainz, the 29-year-old is the undisputed star and supposedly indispensable to the success of Fischer’s side. Or maybe not?

📸 Christian Kaspar-Bartke - 2025 Getty Images

As already mentioned, Amiri was sidelined with an injury from February 28 onward. Nebel, however, managed to make the absence of the star man almost forgotten. As if it were the most natural thing in the world, he replaced Amiri and played a major role with his performances in ensuring that Mainz, currently sitting in tenth place, have all but secured survival. For comparison: after the first half of the season, they were still in 16th.

Now in the final phase of the season, Amiri and Nebel are playing alongside each other in midfield. Both are doing it equally well. While Nebel scored recently in the 3-4 defeat to Bayern, Amiri had netted a last-minute equaliser the week before in the 1-1 draw against Gladbach. Julian Nagelsmann seemingly has an embarrassment of riches.

Until the official squad announcement on May 21, Nebel will probably cross the national team coach’s mind several more times. And rightly so — in this kind of form, he could be exactly the right man for the final minutes of a World Cup match if needed.

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