Julian Nagelsmann has left his position as Germany head coach following the nation’s World Cup exit to Paraguay.
The 38-year-old has departed four days after the four-time world champions were eliminated in the last-32 stage.
Germany were defeated 4-3 on penalties — their first ever World Cup defeat by that method having won all of their previous four shootouts — following a 1-1 draw against the South American side.
It marked a third successive World Cup in which Germany failed to reach the last-16 stage of the tournament, having been eliminated at the group-stage phase in 2018 and then again in 2022.
Nagelsmann said after the defeat he would not resign but acknowledged that his future would be decided by the DFB.
“I won’t step down,” he said. “If the DFB wants me to continue, I’ll continue, but I know how the industry works.”
On Wednesday, DFB president Bernd Neuendorf said he would sit down with Nagelsmann and the sporting leadership team of Andreas Rettig and Rudi Voller.
“Over the coming days, we will take the time to discuss the reasons together and in a calm manner: why the team were unable to show the quality they have, and why they failed to live up to their own expectations and those of football fans across Germany,” he said in a statement on the federation’s website. “After a setback of this magnitude, and with the challenges ahead in mind, we cannot and will not simply move on as if nothing has happened.”
Nagelsmann, 38, succeeded Hansi Flick as Germany coach in September 2023, six months after being sacked by Bayern Munich.
He led Germany to the quarter-finals of the nation’s home European Championship in 2024, losing to eventual champions Spain after extra time.
Nagelsmann signed a contract extension in January 2025 to keep him in charge through to the conclusion of the 2028 European Championship.
Before the loss to Paraguay, Germany’s only previous penalty shootout loss at a major tournament came in the final of Euro 1976, against Czechoslovakia.
Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer also confirmed following the defeat that he would retire from international football for a second time. The 40-year-old, who returned from retirement shortly before the tournament, won 128 caps and helped Germany win the World Cup in 2014.
The only outcome after a wretched tournament
Analysis by The Athletic’s Sebastian Stafford-Bloor
Not a surprise.
Nagelsmann said immediately after Germany’s elimination that he would not be resigning, effectively forcing the DFB’s hand.
Could they have continued together? It’s very difficult to see how. Germany were wretched at the World Cup and, actually, have had rotten few years across all competitions; this was not just a bad few weeks.
The team has not evolved. No clear style has emerged. And weaknesses that Nagelsmann inherited — defensive fragility, inability to create chances — have either not improved significantly or become worse.
In this particular job and at this specific moment, Nagelsmann’s credibility might be shot, too. He’s a fine coach who has not become a bad one, but a critical mass has been reached now of ex-players and powerful media figures who no longer believe that he is the right person to coach the national team.
The noise has just become too loud and given the nature of that Paraguay defeat and what it represented — arguably a low point in the country’s World Cup history — he has no recourse.
Germany’s situation requires more than just a new coach. There will have to be further blood-letting and revaluation in the weeks, months — perhaps years — to come, but this was an obvious start, with the DFB wanting to move on as quickly as possible and, given the new contract Nagelsmann signed in January 2025, at considerable expense.
