Germany has hired Jurgen Klopp to coach its national team, giving the ex-Liverpool manager a daunting task to turn around the fortunes of a squad which failed yet again at the World Cup.
Klopp, famed for his success during stints as coach at Borussia Dortmund and especially Liverpool, has been in talks with the German Football Association (DFB) about trying to lead Germany, long a football powerhouse, back to prominence.
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“It’s a big honour to be sitting here,” Klopp said. “I had an idea how big the job of national team coach is, but when you’re being directly connected with it, you really feel the scale and the responsibility even more.”
Citing fatigue, Klopp stepped down from the Liverpool job in 2024. He was “recharged” in comments while in talks over the Germany job.
Klopp said on Friday he would be prepared to leave without any severance pay if it doesn’t work out, and threatened to resign if the media don’t “leave my family in peace”.
The 59-year-old is among the most decorated football coaches of his generation and has signed a contract with Germany that runs until 2030, the date of the next World Cup.
Since 2025, Klopp has been under contract with Austrian energy drink maker Red Bull as “Head of Global Soccer”, where he oversees the football clubs affiliated with the company such as RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg and the New York Red Bulls.
German federation president Bernd Neuendorf said there wouldn’t be a typical release fee paid to Red Bull for Klopp. Instead, the federation will pay one million euros ($1.14m) to the Red Bull-linked Wings for Life charity foundation, which supports research into spinal cord injuries.
They have also agreed to hold three national team games in the eastern city of Leipzig, where Red Bull backs the city’s Bundesliga club team.
The DFB dismissed former head coach Julian Nagelsmann after Germany crashed out of this summer’s World Cup in disappointing fashion, losing to Paraguay on penalties in the round of 32.
That means the German men’s team has suffered three straight World Cup debacles since winning their fourth title in 2014.
Germany made first-round exits in both 2018 and 2022. They have won just one knockout match at the past five major tournaments, reaching the quarterfinal as hosts at Euro 2024.
Klopp had successful coaching tenures at German clubs Mainz, where he was a player for more than a decade, and then Dortmund.
He then became a legend at Liverpool, where he coached the English side to a league title in 2020, ending a 30-year drought. He also led the club to a Champions League triumph, their sixth European crown.
Klopp faces a tough introduction to his first national team job with four Nations League games in 11 days against the Netherlands, Greece and Serbia in late September and early October.
