What had you done with your life by the time you’d turned 27? Whatever it was, it’s unlikely to have had less material impact on society than the vertiginous art of putting one word in front of another, so you’re already one rung further up the ladder than FourFourTwo.
If you’re Joshua Kimmich, however, you’re seven games away from completing the set. This month, Germany’s midfield metronome heads to Qatar desperate to lift the trophy that would mean more than any other in a glittering career comprising seven straight Bundesliga titles, three German Cups and the Champions League. A reminder, he’s 27.
For all that domination with the domestic juggernaut that is Bayern Munich, Kimmich is yet to win a major trophy with his country, assuming you’re not counting the 2017 Confederations Cup. Barely out of footballing nappies when Germany were crowned world champions for a fourth time in 2014, having just completed his first professional season with third-tier RB Leipzig as an inexperienced 19-year-old, Kimmich approaches this World Cup as a 70-cap veteran who’s suffered more than most with the national team.
Germany haven’t won a knockout game at a major tournament since reaching the Euro 2016 semi-finals, falling to England in the last 16 at Euro 2020 and not even making it out of the group when defending their world title at Russia 2018. Kimmich was used at right-back by Joachim Löw four years ago, but is now the central midfield heart of a much changed Germany squad that he captained in a dramatic 3-3 Nations League draw
