The German Football Association (DFB) said Tuesday that head coach Julian Nagelsmann, 38, stepped down midway through his term, taking responsibility for the team's early exit at the World Cup in North America. The coaching board unanimously approved a contract termination proposed by association president Bernd Neuendorf that day.
According to the association, Nagelsmann asked in a meeting with top officials the previous day to "let me step down from the position."
Local media, however, see it differently. The prevailing interpretation is that senior association figures, including President Neuendorf and sporting director Rudi Voller, effectively pushed for his resignation, and that Nagelsmann merely went through the motions of accepting it.
Germany Loses Major-Tournament Penalty Shootout for First Time in 50 Years
Germany packed its bags after failing to advance past a hard-fought round-of-32 match against Paraguay on June 29, which went to extra time and then a penalty shootout. The defeat also left behind a painful record. Germany had boasted a perfect 4-0 record in World Cup finals penalty shootouts, and its loss in a major-tournament shootout was the first in 50 years, since the 1976 European Championship final against Czechoslovakia.
Immediately after the elimination, Nagelsmann appeared to have no intention of stepping down. "I am not someone who runs away," he said, signaling his will to remain at the helm. But former national team players such as Mats Hummels and Philipp Lahm led calls for him to take responsibility for the result. Amid reports that several players, including key midfielder Leon Goretzka, refused to take penalties in the shootout against Paraguay, the noise surrounding the team's internal atmosphere continued unabated.
Nagelsmann took charge of the national team in September 2023, with a term running through the European Championship (Euro 2028) in June-July 2028. The DFB is known to have inserted a clause when it extended his contract in January last year allowing early termination if the team was eliminated in the World Cup group stage. However, because Germany advanced beyond the group stage to the round of 32, the clause did not apply directly, and for that reason local media forecast that Nagelsmann will receive a severance payment worth 7 million euros (about 12.27 billion won), equivalent to one year's salary.
Will Germany Enter a Golden Age of the 'Klopp Era'?
Jurgen Klopp, 59, is being cited as the leading candidate to succeed him. The DFB said it "plans to pursue talks with Klopp regarding the successor appointment," adding that he had already expressed his intention to take the helm. Klopp led Borussia Dortmund from 2008 to 2015, winning back-to-back Bundesliga titles (2010-11, 2011-12) and finishing runner-up in the UEFA Champions League (2012-13). He then coached Liverpool for nine years from 2015 to 2024, leading the club to the 2018-19 Champions League title and, the following year, its first Premier League title in 30 years, and is credited with ushering in a golden age of the "Klopp era."
Klopp currently works as "global head of soccer" at Red Bull, the energy drink company that owns several football clubs including Salzburg in Austria, a role he has held since January last year. He served as a commentator at this World Cup, and during a broadcast early in the tournament he left a suggestive remark — "fortunately, Nagelsmann is still coaching the team" — that fueled speculation he already had his eye on the successor's seat. His salary at Red Bull is known to be about 10 million euros (about 17.5 billion won). With Euro 2028 approaching, the European football world's attention is fixed on Klopp's next move and whether the rebuilding ability he proved at Dortmund and Liverpool will also work for a struggling German national team.
