Julian Nagelsmann has refused to step down as Germany head coach following their disastrous World Cup exit at the hands of Paraguay, but has placed the decision on his future firmly in the hands of the German Football Association (DFB).
Shock defeat in Boston
Germany were eliminated in the last 32 after a 1-1 draw in Boston was followed by a dramatic penalty shootout. Kai Havertz and Nick Woltemade saw their spot-kicks saved by Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill, but Antonio Sanabria and Fabian Balbuena both missed, sending the shootout to sudden death. Jonathan Tah then blasted his effort over the bar, allowing Jose Canale to step up and score the winning penalty.
The result marks a catastrophic performance for Germany, who entered the tournament with modest expectations but were still expected to progress beyond Paraguay. The defeat follows a group stage that began promisingly with a 7-1 thrashing of Curacao and a 2-1 win over Ivory Coast, before a surprise loss to Ecuador and the nightmare against Paraguay.
Nagelsmann's stance
Speaking after the match, Nagelsmann made it clear he would not resign, pointing to his contract which runs until 2028. 'I'm available. If they want me to stay until 2028, I will. And if they don't want me to, I'll go,' he said. He added that his side lacked cutting edge in the final third. 'Our possession was very slow overall. At some point, we resorted to a brute-force approach. In the end, you still have to beat Paraguay. We had control, but we lacked the cutting edge. We had hardly any presence in the penalty area with our two strikers.'
Klopp criticises performance
Jurgen Klopp, widely seen as the obvious successor to Nagelsmann, was quick to criticise the performance while working as a TV pundit. 'You have to attack down the wings. There's no alternative. We all know how well these guys can play, but they didn't bring that to the pitch,' the former Liverpool boss said. He also called for structural changes at the DFB, noting Germany's early exits in the previous two World Cup group stages. 'We can talk about the DFB. We absolutely have to change a few things. We can start with the U10s and wait a few years to see what the results are.'
Nagelsmann took charge of Germany in 2023 and led them to the quarter-finals of Euro 2024, where they lost to Spain. The defeat to Paraguay is his worst result in charge and leaves his future in serious doubt.
