The Real Madrid defender doesn’t consider the Mannschaft among the tournament’s top favourites.
Antonio Rudiger admits Germany are not in the best position to win the World Cup in Qatar.
Germany found a wonderful start under Hansi Flick last year. However, they suffered a significant dip in form in their UEFA Nations League displays in September.
Speaking to AS, Rudiger has reflected on Germany’s chances to claim the trophy in Qatar.
“It’s exciting. In 2018 I was in the team, but always on the bench. I was young. Now I enjoy a different role, the role of leader,” he told AS.
“I’ve worked all my life for this and it’s something that makes me very happy. I’m ready.
“It’s a new era. In 2014 there was an excellent generation, people like [Toni] Kroos, [Mario] Gotze, [Phillip] Lahm, [Bastian] Schweinsteiger.
“But I think now there is also a great generation of players capable of achieving something important.
“You can never get Germany out of the potential winners. But if we look at what we have done in recent months, it may be a surprise [if] we win.
“We haven’t managed to do a good stage lately. In good shape, for me, is for example Brazil.”
He added: “It’s a World Cup. If you want to win it you have to also beat the best, and it doesn’t matter when you face them,” he added.
“Spain is very, very high. Now, playing in Spain, I can see how many good players there are.
“Like Germany, it is a new generation. In football, it’s hard to give things time. But I think they have a good team, a young team that may need time.”
Germany start their World Cup campaign with a match against Japan on November 23 before facing Spain and Costa Rica in their next group-stage games.
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