DFB confirms the end of the Nagelsmann era: Klopp first in line for talks after Germany's collapse against Paraguay
Julian Nagelsmann is no longer the head coach of the German national football team. The German Football Association, DFB, announced on July 3, 2026, that the representatives of the association and the supervisory board of DFB GmbH und Co. KG, at the proposal of president Bernd Neuendorf, unanimously decided on the immediate termination of the contract with the former head coach. This brought to an end a period that was supposed to last much longer: according to an earlier DFB announcement, Nagelsmann signed a contract in January 2025 until the 2028 European Championship in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Instead, his tenure ends after Germany's painful elimination in the round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup in the United States of America, Canada and Mexico.
According to the official DFB announcement, Nagelsmann, the day before the decision, in a confidential conversation with the association's leaders, asked to be relieved of his duties after the disappointing performance at the World Cup. The DFB stated that this request was accepted, and president Bernd Neuendorf thanked Nagelsmann for his work since September 2023, emphasizing his dedication, ambition and responsibility. In the same statement, Nagelsmann said that he had thought a lot over the past few days and that the team, after such a difficult disappointment, deserved an unburdened new beginning. The decision was therefore presented as the mutually agreed end of a project that was supposed to restore continuity and stability to one of the most successful football national teams in history.
The defeat that accelerated the change on the bench
The immediate reason for the turnaround was the defeat to Paraguay in the first knockout round. According to FIFA's official report, the match between Germany and Paraguay ended 1:1 after extra time, and the Paraguayan national team advanced with a 4:3 victory in the penalty shootout. FIFA states that Julio Enciso put Paraguay in front in the 42nd minute, while Kai Havertz equalized in the 54th minute. In its report, the DFB added that José Canale converted the decisive spot-kick after Jonathan Tah sent Germany's sixth penalty over the goal.
The statistics further emphasized the difference between control of the game and real effectiveness. According to FIFA's official data, Germany had 65 percent possession and 21 attempts on goal, while Paraguay had seven shots. Still, Germany's advantage in possession and pressure did not turn into a victory. In its match report, the DFB described how Germany had the ball for a long time in the opponent's half, but struggled to create clear chances against a disciplined and very compact Paraguayan defence. Such an outcome is particularly painful for a national team that, according to its own ambitions, arrived at the tournament with the goal of ending a run of major disappointments at World Cups.
Immediately after the elimination, in an interview for DFB.de, Nagelsmann admitted that the performance had been insufficient. He said that the build-up play had been too slow, that passes had arrived late and that the team looked uncertain after conceding the goal. He also pointed out that Germany had 120 minutes to settle the match before penalties, so he did not want to reduce the elimination only to the missed spot-kicks. In the same statement, he stressed that German football had not achieved a result worthy of a national team of that reputation for twelve years, thereby practically opening the question of deeper problems, not only coaching ones.
From a long-term contract to a sudden farewell
Nagelsmann's departure resonates particularly strongly because only a year and a half earlier the DFB had publicly built the story of a long-term project. In January 2025, the association announced that his contract had been extended until Euro 2028, with messages that he was a coach who fit into the vision of the national team and who, after the home Euro, had once again brought the team closer to the fans. At the time, Nagelsmann said that the journey was not over and that he wanted to win titles with Germany. Rudi Völler, director of the men's senior national team, emphasized then that the players, fans and the entire DFB had embraced the coach's approach and energy.
Only a few days after the elimination by Paraguay, that tone changed completely. The DFB first published a statement from president Neuendorf in which it was stated that the performance at the World Cup had not met the association's standards. Neuendorf said that after the defeat and early elimination, they could not simply continue as if nothing had happened and that the reasons had to be analyzed calmly and thoroughly. Two days later came the official confirmation of the contract termination, with which the association moved from announcing an analysis to a concrete personnel decision.
Nagelsmann took over the national team in September 2023, at a time when German football was already under pressure because of previous tournament failures. His tenure brought periods of optimism, but also a constant debate about the team's playing identity, squad selection and ability to convert possession into results in big matches. The elimination by Paraguay therefore became more than a single defeat: within the DFB, the question now opens of what kind of head coach profile can restore trust, define a clear tactical structure and bring credibility back to the national team ahead of Euro 2028 and the next qualifying cycle.
Klopp as the first choice, but the deal is not yet complete
The biggest name in all discussions about the successor is Jürgen Klopp. In its official announcement on Nagelsmann's departure, the DFB stated that the association's leadership will now seek talks with Klopp and that he has already signalled a general willingness to take over the head coach position. This is an important formulation: it confirms serious interest on both sides, but it does not mean that the appointment has already been completed. Negotiations would have to cover the sporting plan, contractual terms, the relationship with Red Bull's football system and the breadth of authority Klopp would have in the new role.
Klopp is currently working as Head of Global Soccer at Red Bull. According to Red Bull's official announcement, he took over that position at the beginning of January 2025, after leaving Liverpool in May 2024. His role includes strategic work within the international network of Red Bull football clubs, not the daily management of one team. Red Bull stated at the time that Klopp brings experience from Mainz, Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool, clubs in which he built a reputation as a coach of strong pressing, emotional leadership and a clear playing identity. These are precisely the characteristics that have for years made him be seen as a natural candidate for the German bench.
For the DFB, Klopp would be more than a famous name. His arrival would carry symbolic weight because it would represent an attempt to reconnect the national team with the energy and recognizable style that many fans had sought after a series of disappointments. At the same time, such a move would not by itself solve all the questions. Germany must analyze why a team with great technical quality failed to break down Paraguay in 120 minutes, why confidence was lost at key moments and how to build a squad capable of withstanding the pressure of knockout matches. Klopp, if the negotiations succeed, would receive a task that goes beyond choosing the starting eleven.
The wider problem of German football
The elimination in the round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup continues a period in which the German national team is struggling to find stability on the biggest stage. After winning the world title in 2014, Germany were eliminated already in the group stage at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, and in 2026, in the expanded competition format, they passed the group but did not reach the round of 16. After the match with Paraguay, Nagelsmann openly said, according to DFB.de, that it would be presumptuous to claim that Germany still belongs to the top of the world. Such an assessment, made while he was still head coach, shows how deeply the crisis of results and confidence is perceived.
The DFB must now decide whether it wants only to replace the head coach or launch a broader sporting reset. The official announcement confirmed that Nagelsmann's assistants Benjamin Glück and Benjamin Hübner are also leaving, which means that part of the coaching staff is changing as well. The same announcement stated that sporting director Andreas Rettig informed the DFB president that, for personal reasons, he will not extend his contract, which expires at the end of the year. Such a sequence of events points to a much larger reshuffle than the usual change of head coach after a poor tournament.
Rudi Völler, director of the men's senior national team, emphasized in his farewell message that Nagelsmann's decision deserves respect because the coach is taking responsibility and putting the national team ahead of his own position. That statement is important for the tone of the entire process: the DFB clearly wants to avoid the impression of a chaotic separation and present the change as a controlled transition toward a new cycle. Still, the pressure from the public and the sporting environment will be great, especially if the talks with Klopp prove complicated or if an agreement is not reached quickly.
What follows for Germany
Germany now enters a period in which it must simultaneously process the consequences of the World Cup and prepare the ground for the next competitive obligations. Euro 2028 had already been the key point of Nagelsmann's extended contract, and after his departure it becomes the first major goal of the new head coach. The DFB will have to find a person who can quickly restore confidence in the dressing room, but also clarify in the long term in what kind of system players such as Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala, Kai Havertz, Joshua Kimmich and the new generation expected in the next cycle should play.
Nagelsmann's farewell shows how quickly the framework of assessment changes in national-team football. In January 2025, the DFB saw in him a coach for continuity until 2028; in July 2026, the same association accepted his request to leave after one results collapse that opened questions about the entire project. According to the official announcement, Nagelsmann himself said that the decision had not been easy for him and that he was sorry he could not give the fans more football evenings at the World Cup. His departure is therefore not only the end of one tenure, but also an acknowledgment that the German national team needs a new beginning with a clearer idea, stronger authority and a faster return of results.
If Klopp accepts the talks and an agreement is reached, the DFB would get a coach whose name immediately changes the atmosphere around the national team. If the negotiations fail, the association will have to find an alternative that can withstand comparison with the most desired candidate and take over the job at a time of reduced trust. In both scenarios, the message after the elimination by Paraguay remains the same: Germany can no longer rely on historical status as a guarantee of success, but must rebuild its game, hierarchy and credibility on the pitch.
Sources:
- DFB – official announcement on the departure of Julian Nagelsmann, the departure of part of the coaching staff and the intention to hold talks with Jürgen Klopp (link)
- DFB – report on the Germany – Paraguay match and the course of the penalty shootout (link)
- FIFA – official result, statistics and match data for Germany – Paraguay at the 2026 World Cup (link)
- DFB – Nagelsmann's statements after Germany's elimination from the World Cup (link)
- DFB – announcement on the extension of Nagelsmann's contract until Euro 2028 (link)
- Red Bull – official information on Jürgen Klopp's role as Head of Global Soccer (link)