By Julian Nagelsmann will stay on as the head coach of the Germany national team after signing a contract extension until the conclusion of the 2026 World Cup.
The 36-year-old replaced Hansi Flick in September 2023, signing a short-term deal up until after the European Championships this summer.
Nagelsmann has won three of his six matches in charge of the side, overseeing victories over France and the Netherlands in March, and will now stay on beyond the summer on a long-term deal.
He said: “This is a decision of the heart. It is a great honor to be able to train the national team and work with the best players in the country. With successful, passionate performances we have the chance to inspire an entire country.
“The two wins against France and the Netherlands in March really touched me. We want to play a successful home European Championship together and I’m really looking forward to it together with my coaching team Challenge of a World Cup.”
Germany face Scotland in the tournament opener on June 14 before meetings with Hungary and Switzerland in Group A. They are next in action against Ukraine and Greece in June in a pair of pre-tournament warm-ups.
Nagelsmann has signed a contract extension with Germany (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
Nagelsmann previously managed Bayern Munich and enjoyed a two-year tenure at RB Leipzig, where he helped steer them to the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in club history. He previously spent three years at Hoffenheim.
He had been linked to a return to Bayern, who will be in the market for a new manager this summer after Thomas Tuchel’s departure at the end of the season.
Nagelsmann had attracted interest from Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, and Paris Saint-Germain last summer, before the clubs ultimately chose to appoint Mauricio Pochettino, Ange Postecoglou, and Luis Enrique, respectively.
Euro 2024 will begin on June 14 with Germany automatically qualifying as the host nation.
‘Germany’s future looks bright’
Analysis by The Athletic’s Sebastien Stafford-Bloor
Something clicked during the most recent international break — not just on the pitch, but with the public too.
It helped that Germany gave two excellent performances against France and the Netherlands, two historic rivals and European powers, but also that the shape of those games were so representative of Nagelsmann’s style of play.
Intricate, vertical, and ambitious football, played at speed and with purpose; Germany haven’t been doing that for a while. There is a future to this.
Nagelsmann has restored a sense of meritocracy to the squad, too. Rewarding players in form at Stuttgart (Chris Fuhrich, Maximilian Mittlestadt, Deniz Undav, Waldemar Anton, Josha Vagnoman), Hoffenheim (Max Beier), and Heidenheim (Jan-Niklas Beste), while shunning bigger names at larger clubs — Leon Goretzka at Bayern, everyone other than Niklas Fullkrug at Borussia Dortmund — has added to the sense of renewal.
The national team has been battling general disinterest as well as poor form for these last few years, and those fresh names and the different perspectives they represent have brought renewal and freshness that were long overdue.
The future looks even brighter because — and perhaps this is his biggest success — Nagelsmann has shown that Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala, Germany’s brightest hopes, can be accommodated in the same team.
It had long been assumed that one would have to defer to the other, but the dual No.10 system trialed during those most recent internationals was an unmitigated success.
People want to watch this team and at the end of a decade’s worth of sliding performance standards, scandals, and tone-deaf messaging, that counts as a triumph.
GO DEEPER
Nagelsmann is a coup for Germany but Klopp still looms large
(Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
