Nick Woltemade waits patiently in the barren catacombs of the Stade de Luxembourg. Carrying two new World Cup shirts, Germany’s match-winner calmly let team-mate Waldemar Anton go first before talking about his first two goals for the senior national team after the unexpected 2-0 win.
“I’m very happy. Scoring goals is always good – now two very important goals,” said Woltemade. Amid a tough fall in qualifying, Newcastle United’s 23-year-old unexpectedly became the only World Cup insurance policy that national coach Julian Nagelsmann had.
Without Woltemade’s three goals in a 1-0 win in Northern Ireland and now the serious rumblings are brewing Luxembourg Things will look very bleak for the DFB team with America’s big goal of 2026.
Special praise Nagelsmann
“Both goals were good and important. That was also his job. He did it, he did it very well. I am much happier with his hard work. He has done a lot of extraordinary work. He deserves special praise, especially when it comes to his hard work,” said Nagelsmann about Sturmturm Woltemade who currently have to compensate for the large loss of personnel in the attack following the failures of Kai Havertz, Tim Kleindienst and Niclas Füllkrug.
The pressure is quite big for a young man who has only appeared in international matches seven times. Or? “To be honest, I didn’t feel much pressure. I had very good confidence in my abilities. At a certain point I stopped reading everything and didn’t put any pressure on myself. In the end, that’s what helped me the most,” Woltemade said.
World Cup tickets for Woltemade via cup wins
The striker has yet to properly process the crazy year 2025 with Stuttgart’s cup win, months of transfer whirlwind, U21 European Championship and promotion to the national team. If the final step towards World Cup qualification is successful against Slovakia in Leipzig on Monday (20.45/ZDF), Woltemade will have a big share in America’s ticket.
“It’s the biggest tournament in the world. Of course it’s everyone’s dream to be able to play there someday. That would be number one,” Woltemade said when asked where World Cup qualifying success would rank considering all the successes in the past.
His own record is also getting better: first goalless five times, then one goal in Belfast and now two in Luxembourg: Woltemade himself uses the ketchup bottle comparison, according to which nothing happens for a long time and then everything at once.
“Not a classic target player”
Woltemade is strong at finishing and heading the ball and uses his physical abilities skillfully. Nevertheless, the Premier League legionnaires are not Nagelsmann’s typical nine. “He’s not a classic target player, but actually he’s someone who is very good between the lines, so you can put him there well,” said the national team coach explaining his profile.
On Friday, the likelihood that Woltemade will be allowed to wear a DFB jersey based on the 1994 in America next summer (June 11 to July 19) became much more likely. The striker has been wearing this uniform since appearing as a guest in Luxembourg. “My brother has written to me that he is very interested in long-sleeved jerseys. Maybe that’s the reason we went to Bremen,” said Woltemade.
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