Jürgen Klopp has been appointed as the new head coach of the German Men’s National Football Team. The 59-year-old signed a four-year contract this Friday, meaning he will lead the squad toward the 2028 Euros and the 2030 World Cup, the German Football Association (DFB) announced.
The agreement followed significant internal reports and discussions regarding the negotiation status, with the DFB’s Supervisory Board and Shareholders Assembly later unanimously approving the proposal put forward by DFB President Bernd Neuendorf and 1st Vice President Hans-Joachim Watzke. To successfully negotiate Klopp’s departure from Red Bull, the DFB reportedly set terms that included a donation from the DFB to a foundation close to Red Bull, as well as scheduling three international matches in Leipzig.
Klopp is set to take over from Julian Nagelsmann on August 15, 2026. Nagelsmann had stepped down as national coach on July 3rd following the World Cup match against Paraguay.
The coaching staff supporting Klopp will include Peter Krawietz, Pepijn Lijnders, and Sven Bender. Krawietz and Lijnders are long-time associates of Klopp, having won titles such as the Champions League in 2019 and the English Premier League in 2020 with FC Liverpool. Notably, Lijnders was most recently contracted as a co-coach under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. Krawietz, who has worked with Klopp during his spells at Mainz and Dortmund, is also moving from Red Bull to the DFB. Sven Bender, a former seven-time national player, is returning after previous roles as a co-coach in Dortmund and head coach in Unterhaching. Bender had already been part of the DFB staff as a co-coach for the U16 and U17 teams between 2022 and 2024.
“The national team can connect us Germans like almost nothing else,” Klopp stated. “That is what makes this task so special to me. I am grateful for everything I was able to experience and learn at Red Bull over the past year and a half, and for the openness that made this agreement possible. Now I look forward to this special task in German football, which we will approach with humility and patience: developing a team that fights for each other, that loves football, and behind which the people of our country can assemble with full conviction.”
DFB President Neuendorf added that “Jürgen Klopp represents passion, credibility, and the ability to connect with people like few others. After Julian Nagelsmann’s resignation, he was our undisputed ideal solution for the national coach position. We pursued him consistently. I thank everyone who made this collaboration possible, especially Oliver Mintzlaff for the constructive discussions and his cooperative attitude, and Aki Watzke for his great support.”
Klopp and the national team have four international matches scheduled in a single break in late September and early October. The introductory match will be against the Netherlands on September 24th in Amsterdam. Three days later, Germany hosts Greece for the first match under Klopp in Augsburg on September 27th. The fixtures conclude with matches against Serbia in Munich on October 1st, and Greece in Thessaloniki on October 4th.
