Borna Sosa’s status for Germany in doubt

According to reports from Bild and kicker, VfB Stuttgart left-back and one-time Bayern Munich transfer target Borna Sosa’s eligibility to play for Germany could be in doubt.

Sosa played for Croatia’s U-21 team as a 22-year-old, which could make him ineligible to suit up for Die Mannschaft per Bild.

This would be a huge blow to Germany, who was hoping that Sosa could step in as soon as this summer’s European Championships. Bild cited FIFA’s rule which states that a player must be under 21-years-old at the time of his game to be able to switch international affiliations.

German magazine kicker provided further context on Sosa’s situation:

Article 9, point 2 b III (Commentary on the Regulations for Eligibility to Play for Association Teams) states that a request for a change of association will only be granted if the following conditions are met: “The player was under 21 years of age at the time of his last appearance in a match in an official competition of any division of football for his current association.”

This passage, which did not come into effect until September 2020, could be Sosa’s undoing. The left-footer was already 22-years-old when he last played for Croatia’s U-21s on November 12, 2020, in the U-21 European Championship qualifier against Scotland in Edinburgh.

Things certainly do not look good for Sosa at this point — and Joachim Löw might want to start planning with Philipp Max, Marcel Halstenberg, and Robin Gosens.