This year promises to be a big year for Germany. A new chancellor is on the way, and now the country's national football team is looking to solidify its challenge for the World Cup next year.

That starts by winning the UEFA Nations League, Europe's newest continental competition.

Four months since their last game, head coach Julian Nagelsmann's side showed style and substance to overcome Italy in a 2-1 win in Milan on Thursday. The victory gave the Germans the edge for the second and decisive leg in Dortmund on Sunday.

Germany played as smartly as they looked in their anniversary jerseys (marking the German FA's 125th birthday) that harked back to the 1974 World Cup winning team. In a game that had shades of their loss to Spain last summer, the Germans went one better than recovering from going a goal down. They worked the problem until they won, leaving a real sense that this team is getting smarter.

New faces hoping to break into squad

Germany's 2026 World Cup squad will have a core group of around 14 players. That much has been clear for a while. They will be led by midfielder/defender Joshua Kimmich, who was once again imperious. He assisted on both goals for Germany, first to Tim Kleindienst to level the score and then to Leon Goretzka to put Germany ahead, reminding everyone that he wears the captain's armband and sets the tone.

But with numerous injuries, Nagelsmann's attempt to win the Nations League is also matched by his desire to figure out who those players beyond the core group will be. There is an increasing sense that whoever they are, they have a real chance of impacting this team's trajectory.

"We also want six, seven players involved who are maybe not the most talented or the strongest individuals but are the best suited to the role and have the required hunger when they come on," Nagelsmann told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung this week.

"And these are often players who have not followed the traditional career path of the academy, one year in the U23s and then, aged 20, in the first team, but rather taken a detour."

Midfielder Nadiem Amiri is one of those, and so is Yann Aurel Bisseck. Both were included in this squad, and Amiri started in Milan but didn't quite sparkle as much as he has at Mainz so far this season. Time will tell whether he can be one of those leaders in the second group, but the door is open for players who have followed the unconventional path.

There's no need to wait when it comes to goalkeeping, though. Oliver Baumann, 34, had another strong game, showing that late bloomers are welcome if the performances are right. The same is true for those who have been away for a while. Goretzka, after 16 months out of the Germany squad and having battled back from the unwanted list at Bayern Munich, scored the winner to cap a performance Nagelsmann called "exceptional."

Confidence and character growing

The character of this Germany team is emerging. It has its star players, and the second group is beginning to take shape. It's the reason around 3,500 Germany fans were in the away end in the San Siro, the most away fans at a Germany game since Glasgow in 2015.

"That desire is what we have shown more in the last few months, and that is what sets this team apart," Goretzka told ARD afterward.

But it's also their head coach. In the top 10 most faced teams in Germany's football history, Italy is the team Germany has the lowest win ratio against. Indeed, their last win in Italy was nearly 40 years ago. But, their 11th win in their 38th meeting also came because Nagelsmann's big selection choices worked and he didn't hesitate to change what wasn't working. The 37-year-old remains Germany's x-factor.

Nagelsmann's plan is working. The next step is bringing the Nations League final four to Germany to secure a second straight summer of football on home soil.

Edited by: Davis VanOpdorp