2. Bundesliga
Bundesliga 2's 2022 FIFA World Cup hopefuls
Canada's Scott Kennedy, Australia's Jackson Irvine and the USA's Julian Green are among the Bundesliga 2-based players hoping to be involved at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
bundesliga.com runs down some of the most likely candidates...
Club: Regensburg
Position: Centre-back
Country: Canada
Kennedy is expected to be part of Canada's first World Cup campaign since 1986. The Regensburg centre-back won all eight of his senior caps to date during CONCACAF qualifying, and is guaranteed regular minutes at the heart of the Jahn defence in the new Bundesliga 2 season. The 6'3" defender is a tough tackler and towering presence at both ends, as evidenced by his two goals from set-pieces last term.
Club: St. Pauli
Position: Central midfielder
Country: Australia
Playing in Bundesliga 2 has also worked wonders for Irvine's international career. The no-nonsense St. Pauli midfielder was an ever-present during the Socceroos' Asian qualifying circuit, only missing three of 18 group games, before opening the scoring in the fourth-round decider against the United Arab Emirates and playing the full 120 minutes in the play-off victory over Peru. Needless to say he's a shoo-in for club and country.
Watch: Jackson Irvine got Pauli off to a winning start in 2022/23
Club: Greuther Fürth
Position: Attacking midfielder
Country: USA
Green has his work cut out if he's to break back into the US squad. The Floridian hasn't represented his country since November 2018, but did earn his first call-up to a Gregg Berhalter squad in May 2021. A goal on Matchday 1 of 2022/23 won't have done his chances any harm. The former Bayern Munich youngster also has prior World Cup experience, having featured in the 2014 edition in Brazil, where he became the USA's youngest scorer in the competition with his extra-time goal against Belgium in the last 16.
Watch: Get to know Julian Green's story
Club: Arminia Bielefeld
Position: Attacking midfielder
Country: Japan
Masaya Okugawa was Arminia Bielefeld's eight-goal top scorer in the Bundesliga last season, adding to his five goals the previous campaign. He's previously done the business in Bundesliga 2 and the Austrian Bundesliga, but is yet to be capped at senior international level, with the likes of Takuma Asano (Bochum) and Daichi Kamada (Eintracht Frankfurt) keeping him out of the equation - at least for now...
Watch: Masaya Okugawa in action for Arminia Bielefeld
Club: Fortuna Düsseldorf
Position: Midfielder
Country: Japan
Ao Tanaka's World Cup prospects are a shade rosier. Making his mark on Bundesliga 2 during a loan spell with Fortuna Düsseldorf last season, the 23-year-old midfielder enjoyed a run of seven straight 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying appearances, whilst featuring in all four of Japan's June internationals. Now on the books of promotion hopefuls Fortuna on a permanent deal, he's in the ideal setting to stake his claim to a World Cup starting berth.
Club: Greuther Fürth
Position: Defensive midfielder
Country: Germany/ Ghana
Gideon Jung missed the majority of the 2021/22 campaign through injury. The seasoned defender has made 138 Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 appearances down the years, though, and would be a handy addition to Ghana's World Cup squad. Assuming he's fit and on form, the Black Stars could do worse than tempt the ex-Germany U21 international to switch allegiance in time for Qatar.
Club: Holstein Kiel
Position: Forward
Country: Ghana
Kwasi Wriedt is another option for Ghana. The Holstein Kiel forward has three senior appearances with Bayern on his CV, as well as a 3. Liga winner's medal for the record champions' reserve team. Wriedt left for the Netherlands' Willem II in summer 2020, scoring 12 goals in 42 Eredivisie games before returning to Germany with Holstein Kiel in January. Three goals in 15 appearances for the club show he's no slouch in the final third.
Watch: Kwasi Wriedt stunned Werder Bremen last season
Club: Nuremberg
Position: Forward
Country: Switzerland/ Ghana
Kwadwo Duah could be a potential obstacle for six-time Ghana international Wriedt. The Nuremberg summer signing hit 18 goals in 39 matches for Switzerland's St. Gallen last season, whilst chipping in with six assists. If he can replicate that kind of form in Bundesliga 2, Ghana head coach Otto Addo - a Borussia Dortmund defender in his playing days - might just pick up the phone to make his pitch to the England-born Switzerland youth international.
Club: Hannover
Position: Midfielder
Country: Cameroon
Gaël Ondoua's already been handed his first senior caps. The Hannover midfielder featured in Cameroon's decisive World Cup qualifiying tie with Algeria, making his full debut in the victorious away leg. He got another few minutes under his belt in AFCON Africa Cup of Nations qualifying in June - reward for some industrious and tenacious showings across 22 Bundesliga 2 appearances in a Hannover shirt in 2021/22.
Club: Karlsruhe
Position: Attacking midfielder
Country: South Korea
Kyoung-rok Choi's an outside bet for the South Korea team. Despite being a regular in the Karslruhe midfield - 44 appearances comprising 10 goals and three assists over the past two seasons - he hasn't represented his country since turning out for the U23s at the 2016 Olympics. Freiburg's Wooyeong Jeong and ex-Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen attacker Heung-Min Son are among the competition in his position.
Club: Magdeburg (on loan from Sint-Truiden)
Position: Left winger
Country: Japan
Tatsuya Ito was part of Japan's 2016 Olympic contingent. He went on to play 20 times in the Bundesliga for Hamburg, producing three assists, only to fall out of favour the following campaign. A three-year spell at Belgium's Sint-Truiden lacking in regular minutes hasn't deterred promoted Magdeburg, where the 25-year-old will hope to rediscover the kind of form that earned him the Bundesliga's Rookie of the Month award for April 2018.
Other candidates
George Bello (Arminia Bielefeld/ USA)
Lennard Maloney (Heidenheim/ USA)
Timothy Tillman (Greuther Fürth/ Germany/ USA)
Jacob Barrett Laursen (Arminia Bielefeld/ Denmark)
Mario Vuskovic (Hamburg/ Croatia)
Miro Muheim (Hamburg/ Switzerland)
Patric Pfeiffer (Darmstadt/ Ghana)
Dawid Kownacki (Fortuna Düsseldorf/ Poland)