Germany's World Cup credentials have been rubbished by former England captain Gary Lineker09:41, 29 Jun 2026Germany and Arsenal star Kai Havertz has hit back at former England striker Gary Lineker after describing them as 'one of the weakest national teams ever'. Julian Nagelsmann's side are gearing up to take on Paraguay in the World Cup Round of 32 as they look to continue their bid in the tournament.‌They were rocked in their final group match against Ecuador as the South American side won 2-1 in one of the biggest World Cup shocks in history. The FIFA-ranked 23rd nation in the wide came from behind to beat Germany and qualify for the knockout stages thanks to Gonzalo Plata's effort 13 minutes from time after Nilson Angulo cancelled out Leroy Sane's opener.‌Lineker didn't mince his words when dissecting Germany's chances of reaching the World Cup in an interview with French outlet L'Equipe recently. The former England striker, who saw Harry Kane break his record as the most prolific Englishman in the competition at the weekend, rubbished the four-time winners' chances.‌Get the latest World Cup news straight to your inbox by signing up to our Make Football Great Again newsletter now!Lineker said: "I think, I could be wrong, that this is one of the weakest German national teams I've seen. France can qualify for the quarter-finals without any problem. Remember that they didn't even make it out of the group stage of the last two World Cups. So I think you can sleep soundly."However, the comments from the former BBC Match of the Day presenter has been quickly addressed and rejected. Havertz admitted bluntly that he doesn't care about external comments.‌He said: "Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I didn't even notice it myself. Of course, at a tournament like this, a lot of people start talking about you. I don't think anyone really pays much attention.“We already have plenty of experts in our own country – if it starts happening in other countries too, then at some point enough is enough. It’s always easy to criticise us from the outside. But I really couldn’t care less.”‌Germany ended their unwanted record of failing to get out of the Group Stage in each of the last two tournaments as the 2014 winners endured embarrassing campaigns on the world stage.They avoided that this time around, beating Curacao and Ivory Coast, albeit needing two goals from substitute Deniz Undav to beat the Ivorians to qualify for the latter stages.Ecuador's 2-1 win brought them back down to earth as they now face another tricky South American test to navigate.Article continues belowHead coach Julian Nagelsmann has faced scrutiny over his position with Jurgen Klopp widely tipped to be his successor. The former Bayern Munich boss faces a crucial tournament to stake his claim as the right man to guide the German national team back to the top table.When asked about expectation of the team, he said: "At least it's always about winning when you talk about the German national team, it's always about trying to win every game."Tomorrow it is about winning the game, to deal with expectations is to have self-confidence, have a good plan so the players can feel comfortable on the pitch, to do the right things, to show they are good players. It's all about winning, if you win everything is perfect, if you lose everything is s***, so we have to win tomorrow."