Second in command to Joachim Low in 2014, Hansi Flick knows exactly what it takes to lead a Germany team to World Cup success.
However, this time the 57-year-old is aiming to repeat the trick as the main man in the dugout having taken charge of his country 18 months ago.
The Germans turned to Flick after a disastrous 2018 campaign saw them dumped out in the group stages and he had just led Bayern Munich to a Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Champions League treble.
He will be hoping for a strong start to his first World Cup campaign as national team boss against Japan on Wednesday.
Below are the projected lineups for both teams.
MORE: Germany vs. Japan live: World Cup score, highlights, result from 2022 Group E match
Germany vs Japan lineups
Flick made no attempt to hide just how big a blow the loss of Leroy Sane to a knee injury is for Germany when speaking ahead of their opening game.
"It is extremely bitter to have to play without Leroy because with his qualities he is a player who can turn a game around by himself," he said.
"Hopefully he can play on Sunday [against Spain]. The whole medical staff are working on it."
The 26-year-old has scored 11 times in 48 caps for his country and is sure to be key to their hopes of going deep in the tournament.
MORE: When is Germany vs Japan at FIFA World Cup? Updated TV schedule, time, odds
Germany confirmed starting 11
(4-2-3-1, right to left): 1. Neuer (GK) — 23. Schlotterbeck, 15. Sule, 2. Rudiger, 3. Raum — 6. Kimmich, 21. Gundogan — 14. Musiala, 10. Gnabry, 13. Muller – 7. Havertz
- Injured: Sane
- Suspended: none
With Sane out of the opener due to a knee injury, Flick has combined Thomas Muller and Kai Havertz as part of his attack.
Borussia Dortmund centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck, 22, starts in defence in his first senior appearance at a finals tournament.
Japan confirmed starting 11
(4-3-3, right to left): 12. Gonda (GK) — 19. Sakai, 4. Itakura, 16. Yoshida, 5. Nagatomo — 7. Tanaka 6. Endo, 14. Ito — 15. Kamada 18. Kubo, 10. Maeda
- Injured: none
- Suspended: none
Wataru Endo (head) returns to action for Japan but there is no place in the starting lineup for Monaco attacker Takumi Minamino or Brighton & Hove Albion winger Kaoru Mitoma, who was thought to have recovered from an injury he suffered shortly before the start of the finals.
Midfielder Hidemasa Morita is not risked having only just overcome a calf problem, meaning Gaku Shibasaki gets the nod instead.
Germany vs Japan World Cup squads
Here are the 26 names on each team's squad lists at the World Cup in Qatar:
Germany
| Position | No. | Player | Club | Age | Caps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | 1 | Manuel Neuer | Bayern Munich (GER) | 36 | 114 |
| GK | 22 | Marc-Andre ter Stegen | Barcelona (SPA) | 30 | 30 |
| GK | 12 | Kevin Trapp | Eintracht Frankfurt (GER) | 32 | 6 |
| DEF | 25 | Armel Bella-Kotchap | Southampton (ENG) | 20 | 2 |
| DEF | 4 | Mattias Ginter | SC Freiburg (GER) | 28 | 47 |
| DEF | 20 | Christian Gunter | Freiburg (GER) | 29 | 7 |
| DEF | 5 | Thilo Kehrer | West Ham (ENG) | 26 | 23 |
| DEF | 16 | Lukas Klostermann | RB Leipzig (GER) | 26 | 19 |
| DEF | 3 | David Raum | RB Leipzig (GER) | 24 | 12 |
| DEF | 2 | Antonio Rudiger | Real Madrid (SPA) | 29 | 54 |
| DEF | 23 | Nico Schlotterbeck | Borussia Dortmund (GER) | 22 | 6 |
| DEF | 15 | Niklas Sule | Borussia Dortmund (GER) | 27 | 42 |
| MID | 17 | Julian Brandt | Borussia Dortmund (GER) | 26 | 39 |
| MID | 8 | Leon Goretzka | Bayern Munich (GER) | 27 | 44 |
| MID | 21 | Ilkay Gundogan | Manchester City (ENG) | 31 | 63 |
| MID | 11 | Mario Gotze | Eintracht Frankfurt (GER) | 30 | 63 |
| MID | 18 | Jonas Hofmann | B. Monchengladbach (GER) | 30 | 17 |
| MID | 6 | Joshua Kimmich | Bayern Munich (GER) | 27 | 71 |
| MID | 14 | Jamal Musiala | Bayern Munich (GER) | 19 | 17 |
| MID | 13 | Thomas Muller | Bayern Munich (GER) | 33 | 118 |
| MID | 19 | Leroy Sane | Bayern Munich (GER) | 26 | 48 |
| FWD | 26 | Youssoufa Moukoko | Borussia Dortmund (GER) | 17 | 1 |
| FWD | 24 | Karim Adeyemi | Borussia Dortmund (GER) | 20 | 4 |
| FWD | 9 | Niclas Fullkrug | Werder Bremen (GER) | 29 | 1 |
| FWD | 10 | Serge Gnabry | Bayern Munich (GER) | 27 | 36 |
| FWD | 7 | Kai Havertz | Chelsea (ENG) | 23 | 31 |
Japan
| Position | No. | Player | Club | Age | Caps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | 1 | Eiji Kawashima | Strasbourg (FRA) | 39 | 95 |
| GK | 12 | Shuichi Gonda | Shimizu S-Pulse (JPN) | 33 | 34 |
| GK | 23 | Daniel Schmidt | Sint-Truiden (BEL) | 30 | 11 |
| DEF | 5 | Yuto Nagatomo | Tokyo (JPN) | 36 | 138 |
| DEF | 22 | Maya Yoshida | Schalke (GER) | 34 | 122 |
| DEF | 19 | Hiroki Sakai | Urawa Red Diamonds (JPN) | 32 | 72 |
| DEF | 16 | Takehiro Tomiyasu | Arsenal (ENG) | 23 | 29 |
| DEF | 2 | Miki Yamane | Kawasaki Frontale (JPN) | 28 | 15 |
| DEF | 3 | Shogo Taniguchi | Kawasaki Frontale (JPN) | 31 | 14 |
| DEF | 4 | Kou Itakura | Borussia Monchengladbach (GER) | 25 | 13 |
| DEF | 26 | Hiroki Ito | Stuttgart (GER) | 23 | 6 |
| MID | 7 | Gaku Shibasaki | Leganes (SPA) | 30 | 60 |
| MID | 6 | Wataru Endo | Stuttgart (GER) | 29 | 43 |
| MID | 10 | Takumi Minamino | Monaco (FRA) | 27 | 44 |
| MID | 14 | Junya Ito | Reims (FRA) | 29 | 38 |
| MID | 8 | Ritsu Doan | Freiburg (GER) | 24 | 29 |
| MID | 15 | Daichi Kamada | Eintracht Frankfurt (GER) | 26 | 22 |
| MID | 11 | Takefusa Kubo | Real Sociedad (SPA) | 21 | 20 |
| MID | 13 | Hidemasa Morita | Sporting (POR) | 27 | 17 |
| MID | 17 | Ao Tanaka | Fortuna Dusseldorf (GER) | 24 | 15 |
| MID | 9 | Kaoru Mitoma | Brighton (ENG) | 25 | 9 |
| MID | 24 | Yuki Soma | Nagoya Grampus (JPN) | 25 | 8 |
| FWD | 18 | Takuma Asano | Bochum (GER) | 27 | 37 |
| FWD | 21 | Ayase Ueda | Club Brugge (BEL) | 24 | 11 |
| FWD | 25 | Daizen Maeda | Celtic (SCO) | 25 | 8 |
| FWD | 20 | Shuto Machino | Shonan Bellmare (JPN) | 23 | 4 |
