Julian Nagelsmann: Where does his path lead with Germany’s national team?
Keystone
Julian Nagelsmann has been national team coach for two years. His tenure in Germany has been characterized by constant ups and downs. He wants to crown his work where it began. But now he has to be a pragmatist again.
At the stadium in Sinsheim, where the 38-year-old Nagelsmann got off to a flying start almost ten years ago at TSG Hoffenheim as the youngest Bundesliga coach, he wants to get the DFB team back on track on Friday after a false start to the World Cup qualifiers.
It has now been two years since Nagelsmann started as national team coach. And to mark the two-year anniversary, he has two international matches coming up against Luxembourg and then Northern Ireland that he absolutely must win.
Incidentally, Nagelsmann’s DFB tenure in the fall of 2023 began exactly where the 38-year-old wants to hold the golden World Cup trophy in his hands in July 2026 according to his own, maximally courageous target: in North America.
Gloom after the high spirits
DFB sports director Rudi Völler was able to convince the young coach, who had been without a club for months following his dismissal from FC Bayern Munich, to take on the national team coaching job and, above all, the tournament project in his own country.
The rollercoaster ride began in November 2023 and continues to this day. Germany lost to Turkey (2:3) and Austria (0:2). The home European Championship then ended too early in the quarter-finals against Spain. But Nagelsmann was also responsible for a change in the mood in the country. The fans loved their DFB team again.
A good Nations League season followed. And with a 3-0 half-time lead against Italy in the quarter-final second leg (3-3 in the end), Nagelsmann’s World Cup title ambitions suddenly no longer seemed like fantasy. Six months later, they are again. The constant ups and downs of his tenure continued with a last-place finish in the Nations League final tournament and then a poor start to the World Cup qualifiers with a 2-0 defeat to Slovakia.
Nevertheless, Völler still sees him as “a stroke of luck” for the DFB: “We love Julian just the way he is.” Young, brash, dynamic, attack-minded.
52 players, 19 debutants
Nagelsmann would rather not talk about the highest World Cup goals. “We want to do more and talk less,” he said. Once again, he has had to realize that he has to be a pragmatist. Because a competitive World Cup squad does not correspond to everyday football with injuries and form crises.
He has fielded 52 players in 25 international matches, including 19 debutants. Ten of the 19 are also in the current DFB squad. Nevertheless, Nagelsmann remains an eternal seeker. This is also due to the fact that he is constantly losing key players.
Kai Havertz will not play an international match in 2025 due to injury. Jamal Musiala suffered a serious leg injury at the Club World Cup in the summer. Marc-André ter Stegen, who is set to be the World Cup goalkeeper, has been absent for months after tearing his patella tendon and is currently having back surgery. And vice-captain Antonio Rüdiger in defense is out.
Nagelsmann outlines his dilemma with a comparison. At the 2014 World Cup title in Brazil, the DFB team had “many pillars”. “Many of our pillars were and are injured.” Nevertheless, he says: “It doesn’t help to complain.” As we know, he prefers to think big, even if he prefers not to say it publicly eight months before the World Cup.