XI: Fritz Walter medal winners
You could form a formidable team with the former winners of the Fritz Walter Medal at your disposal.
Not all winners of the Fritz Walter Medal have evolved to professional star players, but the award is arguably still a strong indicator of players with a huge future ahead of them.
Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich and Toni Kroos are just a few of the world class players who have claimed the award that is named in honor of Fritz Walter who was the captain of German team that won the World Cup in 1954.
The award has since 2005 been handed out to the country’s finest talent in different age groups. For 10 years, it was given to three players in three categories – Under-17, Under-18 and Under-19 – but the Under-18 category was dropped in 2015.
In each of the categories, the medals are further divided into gold, silver and bronze with their worth logically in that order.
If you had a squad of all the players who have previously been honoured with a Fritz Walter medal, you would be able to field this impressive team in a 3-4-2-1 formation:
Manuel Neuer, Bayern München (Under-19, silver – 2005)
Matthias Ginter, Borussia Mönchengladbach (Under-18, gold – 2012 + Under-19, gold – 2013)
Jerome Boateng, Bayern München (Under-19, bronze – 2007)
Antonio Rüdiger, Chelsea (Under-19, gold – 2012)
Joshua Kimmich, Bayern München (Under-18, silver – 2013 + Under-19, bronze – 2014)
Toni Kroos, Real Madrid (Under-18, gold – 2008)
Kai Havertz, Bayer Leverkusen (Under-17, silver – 2016 + Under-19, gold – 2018)
Leon Goretzka, Bayern München (Under-17, gold – 2012)
Julian Brandt, Borussia Dortmund (Under-17, silver – 2013 + Under-18, gold – 2014)
Mario Götze, Borussia Dortmund (Under-17, gold – 2009 + Under-18, gold – 2010)
Timo Werner, RB Leipzig (Under-17, gold – 2013 + Under-19, silver – 2015)
Bench:
Marc-André ter Stegen, FC Barcelona (Under-17, bronze – 2009 + Under-19, gold – 2011)
Benjamin Henrichs, AS Monaco (Under-19, gold – 2016)
Benedikt Höwedes, Lokomotiv Moscow (Under-19, gold – 2007)
Sebastian Rudy, Schalke 04 (Under-18, silver – 2008)
Emre Can, Juventus (Under-17, gold – 2011)
Julian Draxler, Paris Saint-Germain (Under-18, gold – 2011)
Max Meyer, Crystal Palace (Under-17, silver – 2012 + Under-19, silver – 2014)