Germany Women's Soccer Roster 2019: Starting XI and Top Reserve Players

Germany will play at a Women's World Cup for the eighth time in their history in France, and once again they will be expected to make a deep run in the tournament.

Since winning back-to-back competitions in 2003 and 2007, Die Nationalelf have underwhelmed by their own high standards, as they suffered a disappointing quarter-final exit on home soil in 2011 and then finished fourth in Canada four years ago.

The squad they will take to France is full of quality, with midfielder Dzsenifer Marozsan expected to be one of the stars of the tournament. However, they've not been perfect in their preparations for the competition.

Here is the Germany squad in full and a preview of how the two-time world champions are likely to fare in France.

Squad

The team's official Twitter account relayed the 23-woman squad, as well as the five players on standby ahead of the World Cup:

Starting XI

In their friendly against Chile on May 30, Germany lined up as follows: 

Almuth Schult; Giulia Gwinn, Marina Hegering, Sara Doorsoun-Khajeh, Carolin Simon; Melanie Leupolz, Sara Dabritz, Dzsenifer Marozsan, Svenja Huth, Lea Schuller; Alexandra Popp

Preview

While Germany won seven of their eight qualifying matches for the competition without conceding a goal, they did suffer a historic loss. Their defeat by Iceland on home soil was the first time they've ever been beaten in front of their own fans in a World Cup qualifier.

There has been a change of leadership since a spot in the summer showpiece was confirmed, as former German international Martina Voss-Tecklenburg was given the responsibility of leading the team to France.

Commentator Derek Rae was impressed with what he saw from the team in the early stages of her tenure:

There will be a determination among the team to excel, too, especially after their failure at the European Championships in 2017. For the first time in six editions of the competition, Germany didn't lift the trophy, as they were dumped out by Denmark in the quarter-finals.

Since then, there have been some changes in the squad; most notably, forward Anja Mittag brought the curtain down on her international career. Captain Alexandra Popp will be seeking to fill the void she's left behind.

The competition's Twitter account reflected on her goalscoring exploits at youth level in the World Cup:

Still, much of Germany's success will depend on Marozsan, who has gone a long way to establishing herself as the best midfielder in the game in recent years.

The Lyon playmaker was nominated for the Ballon d'Or Feminin last year, although she eventually finished third, with her club team-mate Ada Hegerberg taking the prize. Marozsan's value to Lyon has been evident again this year, starring for the side on their way to domestic and European dominance.

In the team's 4-1 UEFA Champions League final win over Barcelona, she scored the opener after a trademark surge into the box:

Pitted with Spain, South Africa and China in Group B, Die Nationalelf shouldn't have too many problems getting into the knockout stages and past the first knockout round. 

From there, the level of competition will inevitably improve, and it will be fascinating to see how this reshaped side copes up against elite opponents. The potency of Popp and the midfield mastery of Marozsan should see them to the semi-finals at least.