{"id":774161,"date":"2026-07-02T11:30:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T11:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/774161\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T11:30:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T11:30:12","slug":"germany-are-no-longer-a-tournament-team-and-must-reconnect-with-our-own-identity-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/774161\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany are no longer a tournament team and must reconnect with our own identity | World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am stunned. Germany have been eliminated<\/a> early from a World Cup for the third time in a row. I need time to recover from this. The key word that needs to be discussed is continuity \u2013 something the national team have lacked for a decade. German football hasn\u2019t decided how it wants to play<\/a>. There are constantly new ideas, and time and again new players in new positions. Julian Nagelsmann has experimented too much, and not just during this tournament. Yet developing a team takes years.<\/p>\n

Germany have always been successful when player roles were clearly defined, the hierarchy was established and the team had a clear concept of how to attack and defend. That conviction was completely missing. At this World Cup<\/a>, the team didn\u2019t look as if they had gone through the process that every team must undergo.<\/p>\n

You could see it on the pitch in every game. There was a lack of control over the match in terms of building play confidently from the back through the midfield and into the attack, then keeping possession in the opponent\u2019s half. Or, when the opponents have the ball, keeping them away from our own goal. I see that with other nations, but not with us.<\/p>\n

We used to be known as a Turniermannschaft (\u201ctournament team\u201d). That meant finding our rhythm as the tournament progressed. Those days are gone. This time, the team got worse from game to game. That happened because promising approaches were abandoned, even when they were working well. The idea of \u200b\u200busing Deniz Undav as an impact substitute<\/a> worked well, yet Nagelsmann deviated from that strategy against Paraguay.<\/p>\n

Julian Nagelsmann did not seem to settle on a clear plan during the World Cup. Photograph: Amanda Perobelli\/IMAGN IMAGES\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Let me give two examples of what I would have done differently. First, Joshua Kimmich plays in midfield for Bayern Munich, so he should have played there for the national team as well. Second, Florian Wirtz and Kai Havertz are two of our best players, as evidenced by the goal against Paraguay. I would have liked to see Wirtz in the middle, playing centrally behind Havertz, where he is at his strongest. And I would have wanted that consistently \u2013 game after game, and day after day in training.<\/p>\n

A 2026 World Cup player profile of Germany\u2019s Florian Wirtz.<\/a><\/p>\n

Nagelsmann likes to change systems and formations. That is his style, he says. Yet great teams such as Spain or France always play according to the same pattern. I recognise them immediately when I am watching. They simply execute it so well that others cannot stop them.<\/a> You shouldn\u2019t make things in football more complicated than they are.<\/p>\n

Of course, a coach is allowed to vary things, but only the details, and only once there is order within the team. That is a general problem with German teams, including those in the Bundesliga. Most of them lack that clarity.<\/p>\n

One also has to address Nagelsmann\u2019s changes. Against Ecuador<\/a> \u2013 in the final group match, which was of no consequence \u2013 he used a different formation from the one he used against Paraguay in the last 32. Like many things, I didn\u2019t understand that move. Every change sends a message to the team \u2013 a message that needs to be understood. Any rotation should serve a purpose that is ideally self-evident. That wasn\u2019t the case here.<\/p>\n

There was something about this World Cup that gives me hope, however. When faced with failure, the players didn\u2019t turn on one another; the team protected their own. Antonio R\u00fcdiger spoke highly of his rivals Jonathan Tah and Nico Schlotterbeck; Havertz raved about Undav; and Kimmich stood up for both Leroy San\u00e9 and Nagelsmann. I liked that. That is something to build on.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Tah (centre, No 4) missed Germany\u2019s decisive sixth penalty. Photograph: Ian MacNicol\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

I also defend the players against accusations that they lack the right attitude. That was certainly the case in Russia in 2018<\/a>, when the World Cup-winning generation put in a disastrous performance. But I do not accept that criticism regarding 2022 and 2026. It is not a question of the players\u2019 character. I can see that the team are giving their all. Failure hits them hard. After the elimination in Qatar in 2022<\/a>, Kimmich spoke of his fear of falling into a deep slump. He was devastated this time, too.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s generation consists of \u201csystem players\u201d who came through youth academies. They have viewed football as a profession since the age of 12 or 13 \u2013 a profession where everything has been growing dynamically for 15 years: salaries, digital presence and the excesses of individualisation. It is hard to keep pace with all that. That is where leadership is required.<\/p>\n

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And the generation after mine needs a fair chance. Yet, time and again, coaches fall back on the 2014 World Cup winners; at this tournament Manuel Neuer<\/a>. Such a decision may provide short-term stability for the squad, but it always signals a lack of faith, an implication that the team cannot manage on their own.<\/p>\n

Argentina and France \u2013 with Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 \u2013 prove that it is possible to build a team using established players. They operate under the same conditions as Germany<\/a>. Didier Deschamps and Lionel Scaloni lead their squads; there is a sense of order and security there.<\/p>\n

Manuel Neuer was brought back in as Germany\u2019s starting goalkeeper very close to the start of the World Cup. Photograph: Europa Press\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

At three World Cups in a row the Germany coach \u2013 Joachim L\u00f6w, Hansi Flick and Nagelsmann \u2013 has failed. I do not see a problem with the players. We have individuals playing for top European clubs. R\u00fcdiger has been at Real Madrid for years. Wirtz fired Leverkusen to their first league title before Liverpool spent a huge sum to sign him as a playmaker. Havertz won the Champions League with Chelsea and the Premier League with Arsenal. Jamal Musiala is considered to have world-class potential. Kimmich has been taking responsibility at Bayern for years. Only France possess more talent than Germany.<\/p>\n

The World Cup is the most important sporting event in the world. A national team must represent its country. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, people celebrate their team because they see themselves reflected in it. But if you constantly disrupt the team\u2019s development, no one can identify with the setup. That is why our fans are so disappointed. That is not good.<\/p>\n

In our time \u2013 as in any team \u2013 not everyone got along perfectly. But when I meet up with former teammates from the 2006\u201314 era, we bask in fond memories together. That shared success gave us something that lasts a lifetime. It is an experience my successors likely won\u2019t have. That is a great shame for them.<\/p>\n

There is now talk about Nagelsmann and potential successors<\/a>. But before we discuss names, we should clarify some fundamental issues. German football needs to decide how it wants to play. Are we Spain? Are we Argentina? Are we France? No, we are Germany. We have our own culture, our own brand of football. We should reconnect with our identity. We should do so with conviction.<\/p>\n

Philipp Lahm\u2019s column was produced in partnership with Oliver Fritsch at the German online magazine Die Zeit<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I am stunned. Germany have been eliminated early from a World Cup for the third time in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":774162,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-774161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}