Jürgen Klopp is to return to the dugout after being appointed head coach of the Germany men’s national side. The 59-year-old takes over from Julian Nagelsmann in the job after Germany’s humbling last-32 exit to Paraguay at the World Cup.
Klopp has been away from frontline management since leaving Liverpool at the end of the 2023-24 season, when he cited fatigue as his principal reason for stepping away after a hugely successful nine-season spell in charge that saw him win both the Premier League and Champions League.
Klopp was made Red Bull’s head of global soccer in October 2024, working in the background for the multiclub organisation. He worked as a pundit for German TV during the World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada.
“We’re very happy to be able to present Jürgen Klopp today as the new coach,” the German Football Association (DFB) president, Bernd Neuendorf, told a press conference in Frankfurt on Friday morning.
RM Block
“The national team can connect us Germans like hardly anything else. That’s exactly what makes this task so special for me,” Klopp said in a statement.
“I am grateful for everything I have experienced and learned in the last year and a half at Red Bull and for the openness that has made this agreement possible in the first place.
“Now I am looking forward to this special task in German football, which we will tackle together with humility and patience: to develop a team that fights for each other, that enjoys football and behind which the people of our country can rally with full conviction.”
Klopp will be assisted by Peter Krawietz, Pep Lijnders and former Germany international Sven Bender.
His first game in charge of Germany will come away to bitter rivals the Netherlands on September 24th in the Nations League. Klopp’s side will also face Greece and Serbia in group A2 before preparing for the Euro 2028 campaign.
The Euro 2028 qualifying draw will take place in Belfast on December 6th.
It was also announced that former Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker, a World Cup winner with Germany in 2014, will replace Andreas Rettig as the DFB’s sporting director on January 1st. - Guardian and agencies
