5 players from Germany's 2014 World Cup-winning squad who are unlikely to feature in Russia 2018.

Germany v Argentina: 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Final — Are all three of them going to be there in Russia 2018?

The German National team is one of the most efficient footballing units, consistently displaying top-notch performances on the international stage with their fluid football and marauding tenacity. Die Mannschaft or 'The Team' as they are referred to are as strong as ever going into the World Cup at Russia. The defending champions would look to consolidate their grip on the trophy once again with pundits rating them as the team to beat already.

With experienced internationals and their strong Bayern core, Germany are a cohesive unit and with several of their stars in brilliant form at their clubs, Joachim Low will be presented with a daunting task of whittling his pool of players down to a final 23 man squad.

This slideshow aims at identifying some members from the World Cup-winning squad of 2014, who as things stand, have a very slim chance of making the final 23 man squad.

Note: This does not include the players who retired post the World Cup in 2014 (Phillip Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose, Lucas Podolski etc).

#5. Kevin Grosskreutz

SSC Napoli v Borussia Dortmund - UEFA Champions League — From his Glory days at Dortmund.

Borussia Dortmund's Mr. Versatile during his tenure at the club, Kevin Grosskreutz is a reliable player who could fill in at multiple positions and was an important part of Jurgen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund squad that made it to the Champions League Final in 2013. His impressive performances at Dortmund earned him his first German national team call-up in 2010, he went on to make his first appearance in a friendly against Malta.

His good spell of domestic form continued with Dortmund's rise under Klopp and he was named in the final German squad for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Although he didn't make an appearance in the tournament, Grosskreutz was touted to be a regular following the retirement of multiple senior players after the successful World Cup campaign.

However, his form has dipped significant and he was even dropped down to the Borussia Dortmund II side for a period of 5 months. This was the catalyst his move away from his beloved Dortmund. His move to Galatasaray also didn't fare well as he returned to the Bundesliga in January 2016, after failing to register a single appearance for Galatasaray. Currently on the books for SV Darmstadt in the German second tier, Grosskreutz looks like he will never make a German national team appearance ever again. What a sad turn of fate in a career that looked ever so promising.