Joshua Kimmich is now a part of elite company in the annals of German football after Germany’s 4-3 friendly win over Switzerland in Basel. Bayern Munich’s #6 was in Julian Nagelsmann’s starting eleven selection at right back, expectedly so, and he has now broken into Germany’s top ten appearances list of all time (via @iMiaSanMia).
He’s now made a total of 107 appearances for Die Mannschaft at only 31 years of age as he surpassed the 105 appearances made by Jürgen Kohler. Assuming that Kimmich plays a part in the second of two friendlies for this month’s international break against Ghana, he’ll go level with Jürgen Klinsmann at 108 appearances, having done so in considerably less time.
He capped off the occasion with a 90-minute captain’s shift in Basel — a fitting way to break into the top ten all-time appearances list for Germany, though both he and Nagelsmann would’ve preferred a clean sheet. While there are currently some key absentees in the squad for this international break, Nagelsmann did field what is considered to be pretty close to what the starting eleven could look like come time for the start of the World Cup, especially in defense since Kimmich was joined by Jonathan Tah, Nico Schlotterbeck, and David Raum in the back line.
Looking Ahead, Joining the more prestigious list
While it’s a massive milestone for Kimmich to have broken into the top ten appearances list of all time for Germany, there’s just one thing missing from his résumé that all of the other players ahead of him have: all of Lothar Matthäus, Miroslav Klose, Thomas Müller, Lukas Podolski, Manuel Neuer, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos, Philipp Lahm, and Klinsmann have all won a World Cup with either Germany or West Germany. Obviously, that’s still the one trophy Kimmich is looking to add to his cabinet, and one he’ll certainly want to get this summer.
In addition to punching for the World Cup itself, the further Germany goes in the United States, Canada and Mexico, the further up the all-time appearances list he’ll climb. With the upcoming friendlies at the end of May and beginning of June against Finland and the United States, he’ll surpass Klinsmann’s 108 appearances, assuming he plays a part in both matches. Subsequently, he could equal Lahm’s mark of 113 and then either meet or surpass Kroos’ 114 if Germany get past the round of 16, which would be less than the minimum expectation for Nagelsmann and company. Even if Kimmich helps lead Germany to the final, he’ll have to wait longer than that to be able to pass Schweinsteiger’s mark of 121 appearances, but he’ll undoubtedly get there eventually and can certainly keep working his way up the list.
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