Flick: Hummels and Gotze have World Cup chance despite Nations League omission

Hansi Flick says there is still room for Mario Gotze and Mats Hummels to force their way into his Qatar 2022 World Cup thinking after they were omitted from Germany s final pre-tournament squad.

The duo were the headline absentees for September s final Nations League group stage games against Hungary and England, while Southampton defender Armel Bella-Kotchap earned his first call-up.

With Germany s World Cup opener against Japan just over two months away, Gotze – scorer of the winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final – and Hummels are facing a race to make the cut.

But head coach Flick stressed there remains time for players to prove their worth as he referenced Gotze s impressive performances for Eintracht Frankfurt.

The coaching team are …