Jürgen Klopp appointed Germany head coach through 2030 World Cup

"It is a very, very special day for me," Klopp said at his unveiling, opening with the words: "It is a great honour to be sitting here today." He continued: "I now look forward to this special task in German football, which we will approach together with humility and patience: to develop a team that fights for each other, that has joy in football and behind which the people in our country can gather with full conviction." Klopp also quoted a DFB-distributed statement that "the national team can unite us Germans like few other things."

Contract details and first fixtures

Klopp's new deal runs from the 15th of the month and stretches to the summer of 2030, tying him to the federation through the next World Cup. His first match in charge will come on 24 September in the UEFA Nations League away to the Netherlands. Germany then host Greece on 27 September, travel to Serbia in Munich on 1 October and visit Greece again on 4 October. The first major target, he said, is qualifying for the 2028 European Championship in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

The path to Frankfurt required the dissolution of Klopp's contract with Red Bull, where he had served as Head of Global Soccer on a deal originally running to 2029. Instead of a transfer fee, the DFB agreed to donate one million euros to the Red Bull-affiliated foundation "Wings for Life", which supports research into spinal cord injury. Neuendorf described the contractual separation as a "complex topic" and thanked Red Bull for what he called a "very generous" release.

Klopp's coaching staff brings together several long-time collaborators. Peter "Piet" Krawietz, 54, and Dutchman Pepijn Lijnders, 43, both served under Klopp at Mainz, Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool. Former Germany international Sven Bender, 37, who won the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double with Klopp at Dortmund in 2011 and 2012, joins as an assistant, alongside Marc Kosicke, 55. Bender previously worked with the U16 setup.

Coaching staff and backroom team

In a parallel personnel move, the DFB confirmed that Per Mertesacker, the 2014 World Cup winner, will take over as managing director of sport on 1 January 2027, replacing Andreas Rettig, 63, who is stepping down at the end of the year. Rettig had already decided not to extend his contract, independent of the early World Cup exit. Mertesacker, 41 and will join the DFB on a contract also running to 2030, with Rettig tasked with onboarding him in the coming months.

Klopp's return to the touchline follows his departure from Liverpool in summer 2024, after which he moved into his role at the Austrian drinks and sports entertainment group. At his presentation he joked with Neuendorf, asking "Do I have a parking spot with my name on it?", and addressed German fans directly: "I saw what you did with Julian," he said, referring to media criticism of Nagelsmann. "If you misbehave and don't leave my family in peace, then I'm gone."

Mertesacker to take over as managing director

He was expansive about the style he wants Germany to play: "I feel like playing a football that everyone likes," Klopp said, predicting that "the playmakers of today are out wide." He added: "We will play with wingers," and insisted that whoever pulls on the shirt "must be very good, have huge desire and become a little bit better in the moment they put the jersey on." He spoke of developing "a team that fights for each other" and said his aim was for supporters to "go home after the match and say: Wow, that was cool."

The Mainz-born coach began his senior career in 2001 at his long-time club Mainz 05, then in the second division and without a full coaching licence, guiding them into the Bundesliga in 2004. Borussia Dortmund hired him in 2008, where he won the Bundesliga in 2011 and the league-and-cup double the following year, reaching the 2013 Champions League final, which Dortmund lost 1-2 to Bayern Munich. He took over at Liverpool in October 2015 and built the club into a dominant force in Europe, winning the Premier League in 2020, the Champions League in 2019 and lifting a total of eight trophies over nine years before stepping down in summer 2024.

Klopp's tenure begins against the backdrop of what German commentators have called the lowest point in the national team's recent history, twelve years after the 2014 World Cup triumph in Brazil. At the 2026 tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico, Germany were beaten 4-3 on penalties by Paraguay in the round of 16 after Nagelsmann had publicly targeted a deep run. "A little more intensity would have been appropriate," Klopp said of the performance. "Better football is what we have to play — but we also have to change many other things."

The federation said Klopp was identified as its preferred candidate from the outset. In a press release dated 3 July, the DFB confirmed it would approach Klopp to discuss the vacancy, and a "fundamental agreement on key points of a potential contract" was reached during talks in the United States. Neuendorf said the DFB had "spoken very intensively in recent weeks" and stressed that the deal with Red Bull had been "a complex topic." He added: "He has deserved this job for many years."

Coaching philosophy and playing style

The appointment has not been universally welcomed. Thomas Kessen, spokesperson for the fan alliance "Unsere Kurve", said Klopp's association with Red Bull remained a stain on the appointment, calling the foundation a "fig leaf" for the corporation and the donation "an elegant way for the DFB to wriggle out of it." Kessen argued Red Bull cared about "visibility for its own brand, which should lead to higher profits," not sport. Fan Martin Fix, who has attended 208 Germany matches in person, took a more pragmatic view, welcoming the donation to a worthwhile cause even while criticising Klopp's Red Bull past. By contrast, a survey cited by Die Zeit found 78 percent of Germans view Klopp sympathically, a record figure.

Lothar Matthäus, the former Germany captain and record appearance holder, compared Klopp's standing to that of Franz Beckenbauer. "Charisma, authenticity, reliability and a clear line, humanly and football-wise — that is what Franz stood for. And that is also what Jürgen Klopp stands for," Matthäus said. ZDF reporter Markus Wolsiffer described Klopp as "the most powerful head coach since Franz Beckenbauer," while kicker editor-in-chief Tobias Goldbrunner cautioned: "If Klopp focuses on forming the players into a unit, it can work. But the way back to the world summit is long."

Reception among fans and pundits

Klopp himself was characteristically upbeat. "I'm more than recharged, I'm ready," he said. Quoting from his past at Mainz, Dortmund and Liverpool, he added: "I have experienced three times how successful football can change a city." He thanked everyone who had made the move possible and praised the cooperation that allowed it. "We all agree that successful football can change a country," Klopp said. "That's why this moment is here." As part of the settlement, the DFB has also agreed to host three Germany friendlies in Leipzig by 2030, in a gesture that acknowledges the role of the Red Bull-owned club in the country's football landscape.

Sport director Rudi Völler summed up the federation's mood. "The successes speak for him," Völler said, a reference that stretches back through Klopp's seven major trophies with Liverpool, his two Bundesliga titles and the Champions League triumph in Madrid. With the coaching staff in place, the Leipzig games agreed, Mertesacker arriving in 2027 and a contract through to the next World Cup, the DFB has now placed its bet on the coach it calls the "Wunschlösung" — the dream solution — to revive a national team still searching for a new identity after the disappointment of 2026.