Germany is still feeling the sting of the last-minute loss to Spain in the quarter-final of the European Championship. Understandably so, because when the final whistle blew in Stuttgart after the 2-1 defeat, the sun set on a summer that promised so much.
On the pitch, Antonio Rudiger lay prone in the six-yard box. Joshua Kimmich leaned listlessly against a goal post. Thomas Muller, his career flashing before his eyes, broke down in tears, as the fans who had stayed behind — all of them — applauded their national team from the field. Shirts were pulled over faces, hands were on heads. It was a devastating way for the tournament to end.
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Back in the German dressing room, there was barely a sound. Julian Nagelsmann spoke about what had been accomplished and what was still left to be achieved. Nagelsmann had been overwhelmed by the supporter reaction at the Neckarstadion and had cried on air as he reflected on what he had seen around the country — the fan marches, the singing, and the signs that, after nearly a decade, the country was truly invested in its team once more.
It was not an illusion. Domestic television audiences for Germany’s games at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar fell below 11m. During this tournament, they started high and kept growing: 22m against Scotland, 23.9m for Hungary, and 25.5m for Switzerland.
Nagelsmann and his players hoped to win Euro 2024, but the real mission was to re-establish some pride. That has happened. But they have achieved more than that. The national team, which at various times since the 2014 World Cup win has been seen as stale, sour or a toxic blend of the two, is now a story for good. Germany will not win this tournament. But it is now possible to imagine them winning again in the future, and that was another one of the key aims. Germany wanted to feel like a power again, not a punchline. And they do.
They are also a team again.
Germany left Stuttgart late on Friday night, arriving back to their base in Herzogenaurach in the early hours of Saturday morning. When they arrived, well beyond midnight, there were fans waiting for them at the entrance. Many of the coaches and players stayed up until dawn broke, talking about the game and the future.
The next morning, the mood was of a group who did not want to go their separate ways. Rudi Voller and Bernd Neuendorf, the sports director and president of the German Football Federation (DFB), gave speeches to the players and the staff, as did Nagelsmann. Some players became emotional. Some cried. This had been a happy camp and even at the end of a long season nobody was quite ready for a holiday.
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Players enjoyed Nagelsmann’s man-management and detail-orientated coaching. Since his appointment they have been impressed, too, with the collaborative nature of his work. Playing for the national team feels for many like much of a collective effort. The contributions of Sandro Wagner, Nagelsmann’s assistant, who enjoys plenty of coaching agency within this set-up, have also been a triumph.
By Sunday, at the final press conference in Herzogenaurach, eyes were on the future. Nagelsmann was still raw but he, Neuendorf and Voller had their minds on the future.
“We lost, but we did not fail,” said Neuendorf.
Sat next to him, Voller described the psychological improvement in the team.
“We wanted to be the best team in the world again. We’re not there yet, but we’re not far away, either. It was a great performance against Spain. Coming back from a goal down would have been impossible a few months ago. But we have a really good blend of young and experienced players with whom we can keep playing as we are.
“Last night and this morning we have committed to going forward in exactly the same way.”
Tactically, Germany have set their course. It will be a journey they make without the tenets of the current team.
Toni Kroos has retired. While Euro 2024 was his swansong, he was still a player Nagelsmann very much needed. Manuel Neuer, 38, is undecided on whether to continue in international football — he will make a decision in the coming weeks. Thomas Muller, 34, has a Bayern Munich contract that runs until the summer of 2025; it seems likely he has played his final game for Germany.
Neuer is a titanic figure in German football. Nevertheless, Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen, 32, is one of the finest goalkeepers in Europe and, with the quality of his distribution, one well-suited to playing for Nagelsmann. That transition should be relatively easy.
Similarly, while Muller has tremendous standing within the German game — despite a peripheral role at this tournament, his attitude during games and training was greatly admired, particularly by younger team-mates — his departure would not leave a technical hole.
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Kroos is different; replacing him is the priority. Nagelsmann knows how difficult that will be.
“We won’t be able to replace him straight away,” he said on Saturday. “If it was easy, he wouldn’t have been one of the world’s best footballers. With Aleksandar Pavlovic and Angelo Stiller we have players who could replace his style of play. Or Pascal Gross, even though he’s 33. We’ll find these answers.”
Had he not succumbed to tonsillitis on the eve of the tournament, Pavlovic would have had a role this summer as Kroos’s understudy. For good reason. He has started fewer than 20 Bundesliga games for Bayern Munich, having only really just graduated from the club’s academy, but is a fine, progressive passer who could in time replicate much of what Kroos provided.
Stiller, 23, is a less known but equally interesting player. Another Bayern academy graduate, he has followed a different route. He was part of the Bayern Munich II team that won the 3.Liga title in 2019-20 under the coaching of Sebastian Hoeness. He joined Hoeness in Hoffenheim when his Bayern contract expired in 2021, before following him again, to Stuttgart, in 2023.
Stiller was really signed to replace Wataru Endo, the Japan captain who was sold to Liverpool. Endo had been one of the big reasons why VfB had survived relegation the year before — he was exceptional in the two relegation playoff games against Hamburg — but he was also a weighty figure in the dressing room, with almost a paternal role. His were big shoes to fill.
In 2023-24, VfB completed a quantum leap in the Bundesliga, improving from 16th to 2nd in Hoeness’ first full season. Stiller was just one of many positive stories, but he might be the most compelling personality at the club.
Forthright and single-minded, he is often bold in how he expresses himself, on the pitch and in the media. He speaks as if he’s a decade older and when performances are bad, he is not afraid to give opinions on why.
As a player, his profile is similar to Pavlovic. He is a passer, not a ball-winner or destroyer, and he too should suit Nagelsmann’s way of playing.
Can they play together? A different issue. But Euro 2024 has shown Nagelsmann to be more of a squad-user than he was assumed to be. He made changes throughout the tournament, pursuing solutions for the different challenges it presented. Replacing Kroos is impossible, as he admits, but piecing together his contribution by committee should be more achievable.
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That might be the mantra for the next generation. German football has a lot of talented players coming through, but no names that really ring out. Wide-forward Brajan Gruda from Mainz and midfielder Rocco Reitz from Borussia Monchengladbach, a pair of gifted mavericks, trained with the senior squad before the tournament and will be part of its future. Luca Netz, 21, is a fine left-sided defender and midfielder, and — like Reitz — has also managed to establish himself in a struggling Gladbach side. He should break through before much longer, too.
Perhaps Felix Nmecha will re-emerge within Nuri Sahin’s new-look Dortmund. Maybe Merlin Rohl, the Freiburg midfielder, will do the same. Robert Wagner, an obdurate, physical ball-winner, will spend the season on loan at St. Pauli and will be someone to watch.
Hoffenheim forward Max Beier is part of the team’s present. He made a telling contribution against Switzerland in the group and, clearly, he already has Nagelsmann’s trust. That’s significant. The quest for a new German No 9 has been long-lasting. Beier may not quite be it, not yet at least, but there has been much angst over whether the country can still produce goal-scorers. That is partially reflected in the tone of the discourse surrounding Kai Havertz and, in a more positive way, Niclas Fullkrug.
Perhaps this is the moment to consider that problem in a different way? Rather than pining after players who can define eras on their own, Germany might be better to consider the overall composition of their side — after all, Nagelsmann is a highly technical coach and, more importantly, undue faith in individual talent has, over the past eight years, been one of Germany’s problems. So there may not be a new Gerd Muller or Jurgen Klinsmann on the horizon, but there are still valuable components who, if their careers gain momentum, could be part of this drive towards 2026.
Mainz’s Nelson Weiper, 19, suffered a serious knee injury in September 2023, but is fit again and part of a side rejuvenated by Bo Henriksen. His team-mate, Jonathan Burkardt, has also returned from serious injury and is the kind of pressing forward that would suit Nagelsmann’s style of play.
These are not stars, more interesting pieces that can be blended into an attacking group that should stay together for a long time. Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala are both 21. Havertz is 25. Chris Fuhrich, Leroy Sane and Deniz Undav are still in their twenties. And, while not selected for this competition, Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi is hardly a lost cause at 22.
The other end of the pitch is more concerning; like the absence of a recognised No 9, Germany has struggled to produce truly excellent centre-halves over the last half-decade. The cost of becoming efficient at developing multi-skilled, positionally versatile footballers — like Mario Gotze, Marco Reus, Kai Havertz — has been the diminishing number of single-role specialists. It’s not clear where the next elite German centre-back is coming from, nor how damaging the eventual loss of Antonio Rudiger, now 31, will be. Nico Schlotterbeck, Jonathan Tah and Waldemar Anton will all still be in the primes for 2026, though, and it is important not to overstate the issue.
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Particularly because Nagelsmann’s stock has never been higher. Nagelsmann the coach has been admired for a long time and fashioning international footballers from unfashionable fabric — Max Mittelstadt, Fuhrich, Undav and Anton — has added to that reputation. But he has also succeeded in showing his humanity, too. His media handling has been excellent. The sincerity with which he carried himself through his interviews after elimination, with that unaffected hurt, helped to add a benevolent dimension beyond the touchline aggression and the technocratic expertise.
He is Germany’s Julian Nagelsmann now and his players are Germany’s team.
It’s actually a remarkable turnaround for everybody involved. The bruises from Euro 2024 will take a few weeks to properly heal, but the optimism is well-founded.
(TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP via Getty Images)