The national team boss admitted that he opted for Bayer Leverkusen winger Julian Brandt over the Man City ace.

Given Germany's abundance of talented players, a few quality footballers were expected to miss out on the World Cup squad. However, Joachim Low has shocked many with his latest omission from the list of men headed to Russia.

With the national team boss naming his final 23-man team, the 58-year-old has raised several eyebrows by axing Leroy Sane for the list. This decision comes on the back of the attacker's excellent season in England.

The former Schalke ace was instrumental in Man City's record-breaking Premier League campaign in which they became the first side in the competition's history to reach the 100-points mark.  Furthermore, the 22-year-old notched up 12 goals and 15 assists last season but was nonetheless deemed surplus to requirement.

He enjoyed a stellar 2017/18 campaign and was thus named the PFA Young Player of the Year, but was snubbed in favor of Julian Brandt. Marco Reus, who sadly missed out on the 2014 edition in Brazil due to an injury, and Julian Draxler were also included ahead of the Citizens starlet.

This decision quickly became a hot topic on social media, with many taking to Twitter to debate Sane's exclusion. While many argued that a player of his caliber should not have been overlooked, others were in favor of Low's surprising choice.

The die Mannschaft boss sat in front of the media for a press conference shortly after announcing his final squad. Here he confirmed that Leroy's absence is due to tactical reasons, as he has yet to impress on the international stage.

"That was a very close decision between him and Julian Brandt, which was made in favor of Brandt,' Low said in his press conference.

"Draxler, Reus, and Muller are set. Leroy has a huge talent. He will be back again from September. He had not arrived in international matches yet.

"If it was a 100m race, it would have been a photo finish."

Bernd Leno, Nils Peterson, and Jonathan Tah were the other players to be left home. Meanwhile, Manuel Neuer was included and was also handed the no.1 jersey, which suggests that he will be the main man in between the sticks.

Germany's World Cup fixtures