Borussia Dortmund kick-off their 2026-27 pre-season campaign tonight against Rot-Weiss Oberhausen as most of the squad has reported back to work.
The club will be making a short visit to Niederrheinstadion in the Ruhr region itself, just about 50kms from the city of Dortmund.
Head coach Niko Kovac is likely to field a reserve team for this one with much of the first-team stars expected to only feature after the break.
But things get more exciting later this month when the Black and Yellow visit Japan for a pair of friendlies against Cerezo Osaka and FC Tokyo on 29 July and 1 August respectively.
This marks their fourth visit to Japan this century, having previously traveled to the east Asian nation in 2015, 2017 and 2024.
Dortmund confirm squad for Japan tour
Borussia Dortmund have officially named the players who will be traveling to Japan this month and it mostly features players who didn't feature at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Alexander Meyer, Diant Ramaj and Patrick Drewes will be the goalkeepers as Gregor Kobel continues his vacation following an exhausting World Cup campaign where him and Switzerland reached the quarter-finals.
New signings Justin Lerma, Kaua Prates and Joane Gadou are included too as the young guns look to make a mark while Germany's World Cup stars Felix Nmecha, Waldemar Anton and Maximilian Beier have been summoned too.
Die Mannschaft made an early exit from the FIFA World Cup, bowing out in the Round of 32 on 30 June, as their players had some time to rest up since then. Only Nico Schlotterbeck is missing as the defender continues his recovery from a hamstring injury he suffered at the tournament.
Austrian star Carney Chukwuemeka is also summoned although Marcel Sabitzer will miss the Japan trip. The midfielder played every game for Das Team until their last-32 elimination by Spain, while Chukwuemeka largely played a substitute role.
Dortmund's new signing Takato Yamamoto has been named too whereas Yan Couto, Jobe Bellingham, Kabar Almugera, Filippo Mane, Fabio Silva, Mathis Albert, Samuele Inacio and Luca Reggiani also make the cut. Prolific striker Serhou Guirassy, who had almost a two-month long vacation, could spearhead their charge in Japan.
Daniel Svensson of Sweden is also back in the mix. The left-back played only 108 minutes of the Blagult's World Cup campaign, starting in just their last-32 defeat to France while making two substitute appearances off the bench in the group stages.
Ramy Bensebaini and Julian Ryerson are the other World Cup stars missing while Emre Can is still out injured.
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