Given Germany are four-time World Cup winners their status as unknown quantities when kicking off their Qatar 2022 campaign against Japan on Wednesday is odd.
Which Germany will turn up? Die Turniermannschaft – the “tournament team” who, as Germany or West Germany, have also been World Cup runners-up four times and in European Championships been winners three times and runners-up three times, too? Or the rabble whose World Cup defence in 2018 ended in the ignominy of a group-stage exit as the bottom nation after defeats by Mexico and South Korea and who were beaten 2-0 by England in the last 16 at last year’s Euros?
