His last game for the German national team was almost three years ago. On June 12, 2023, Matthias Ginter played the full 90 minutes for Germany in an insignificant friendly against Ukraine.

Since then, however, there have been no further appearances. Ginter had little real chance of making Germany’s Euro 2024 squad on home soil. And with the World Cup drawing ever closer, the Freiburg defender appears to have no more than an outside chance as well – even though he is perhaps in the best form of his life.

Just how damn good his form is, Ginter is once again showing in the DFB-Pokal semi-final against VfB Stuttgart. In the first 45 minutes, the 32-year-old won all three of his duels and recorded seven clearances. He also set up Maximilian Eggestein’s opening goal for the 1-0 lead with a headed lay-off (probably not entirely intentional).

But even aside from today’s match, the 2014 World Cup winner is simply enjoying an outstanding season. Ginter has played in 29 of 30 Bundesliga matches, missing only one through illness. With an impressive 11 goal involvements across all competitions, he is playing a major part in Freiburg currently being able to dream of a DFB-Pokal and Europa League double.

As a result, the calls for Ginter to be included in the World Cup squad despite the strong competition at centre-back have grown louder in recent weeks. Alongside Lothar Matthäus, legendary goalkeeper Richard Golz is also a major advocate. Speaking to 'Sport Bild', he recently said: "If I had the choice between Antonio Rüdiger and him, I would choose Matthias Ginter."

Does Julian Nagelsmann see it the same way? Since the Germany coach is in the stadium, Ginter’s latest masterclass can hardly have escaped his notice...

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