“Hansi has brought stability back in and developed a belief again that the team can play successfully,” Nagelsmann said a few hours ahead of Friday’s group stage draw in Doha.

“And the fact that a top team is not at the World Cup, namely Italy, certainly increases our chances. I’m quite upbeat that we can play for the title.

“Hansi has also shown here at Bayern that he is a title winning coach who has a good gift for leading a team and bringing players to top performances,” Nagelsmann said.

Flick famously coached Bayern to seven titles during his 18-month reign before taking over the national team from Joachim Löw last August.

He won the first eight games before a 1-1 draw at the Netherlands on Tuesday, with Nagelsmann praising Flick and the team for a “dominant” performance in Amsterdam.

Germany’s fourth and last World Cup title was in 2014 when Flick was Löw’s assistant. The team went out in the group stage in 2018 and at Euro 2020 only lasted until the round of 16.

But Flick has brought back a winning mentality which he could cap at the November 21-December 18 World Cup, according to Nagelsmann.

«Hansi has been courageous in many nominations and is going in the right direction. If he now also becomes world champion, he can soon retire from a professional point of view. Then he has achieved everything that can be achieved,” Nagelsmann said.