Germany’s tune-up games are over, so now it is time to focus on the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The German national team is the favorite in Group E and will work to outduel Curaçao, Ecuador, and Côte d’Ivoire.
The coverage and debate will not end until the Germans are either holding up the trophy or left to walk slowly off the field after an unfortunate exit. Coaching decisions, injuries, game coverage, general discussion, and everything in between will be covered right here at Bavarian Football Works!
Make sure you are checking our our gamethreads / live blogs to engage in the match day mayhem and drop your own thoughts in the comments of all of our posts. Or, hit up The Feed (here) and start a discussion of your own!
Below, is a stream of all posts related to the match, so stay up to date on everything that is going on. If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
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Jun 2
SB Nation’s Guide to the World Cup
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As part of SB Nation, Bavarian Football Works was a member of the squad helping pull together the coverage of the World Cup. Below is a series of projects completed for you — our great readers — get ready for the World Cup. Take a look below…
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- Aug 22
Manuel Neuer hails Jonas Urbig as Germany’s future #1 goalkeeper
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The pair of Manuel Neuer and Jonas Urbig is one of the strongest goalkeeper duos in football. Bayern Munich have a legendary, experienced goalkeeper in Neuer, and a promising goalkeeper with elite potential. While Neuer hasn’t allowed as much playtime for his young apprentice as expected, there is little doubt that Urbig will be the man to replace Neuer. But this could happen at the national team level as well.
In an interview, Neuer was asked whether or not Jonas Urbig can be trusted as the future #1 goalkeeper. While the two goalkeepers are competitive with each other, Neuer is always friendly with his rival and it showed in his response.
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- Aug 21
Manuel Neuer on Jürgen Klopp’s appointment as DFB manager
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Manuel Neuer and Jürgen Klopp are undoubtedly two greats of German football. Neuer will soon end his career as the greatest goalkeeper of all time. Klopp has already cemented himself in manager history, with his stints with Borussia Dortmund, and even more famously, Liverpool.
Despite Neuer’s return to the national team, fans will never see Neuer in Klopp’s lineup. After the World Cup, Neuer has re-retired from the national team, which coincides with Klopp’s hiring as the new manager after Nagelsmann’s resigning/dismissal.
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- Aug 21
Jonas Urbig grateful about his World Cup experience
Jonas Urbig is a name that is quickly becoming a hot topic in German football. Hailed as the next replacement for Manuel Neuer (after Alexander Nübel ultimately fell short), Urbig has had some memorable performances over the last year, and impressed enough for Julian Nagelsmann to send him overseas to join Die Mannschaft as part of the practice squad for the World Cup.
“We were all knocked out together; I was part of the group. Even so, it was an incredible experience for me; I got a taste of tournament life and learnt a lot,” said a bittersweet Urbig looking back on the World Cup this summer, as captured by @iMiaSanMia.
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- Aug 14
Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer on ‘very bitter’ World Cup exit
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Retirement has been a topic hovering around Manuel Neuer lately. The legendary goalkeeper came out of international retirement for a last run with Germany this summer, which ended in heartbreak at the Men’s World Cup. And the upcoming Bayern Munich season may be his last.
But the 40-year-old just can’t get enough of football so far — and that’s a good thing. It means Germany’s penalties defeat to Paraguay will not be the way Neuer goes out of the game.
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- Aug 13
Bayern Munich president Herbert Hainer relieved FIFA’s privatization plan is dead
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Bayern Munich president Herbert Hainer expressed his relief over the scrapping of FIFA’s recent proposal to sell the rights to the men’s and women’s World Cups and Club World Cups to private investors.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced on Tuesday a plan with private investors to create a $20 billion company which would be in charge of running major football tournaments. The idea was met with immediate backlash from governing bodies like UEFA and CONCACAF and eventually cancelled.
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- Aug 13
Jürgen Klopp has informed VfB Stuttgart he intends to call up Dženan Pejčinović
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Jürgen Klopp already appears to be cooking up his plan for another ‘Das Reboot’ for the German national team. While Julian Nagelsmann ultimately came short with his squad, Klopp is reportedly making a big change with the future of this team. This week we have already heard some rumors on who Klopp intends to call up to his squad in the coming months. For some, it might be a surprising name.
According to reports from Sport Bild, Jürgen Klopp is already planning on giving Dženan Pejčinović a call-up in the DFB’s restarts leading up to EURO 2028. While a timeline on when that first call-up might happen is unconfirmed, it seems like only a matter of time if his performances keep up.
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- Aug 13
Expert expects Jürgen Klopp to give German national team a fresh look in September
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Germany could be on the verge of a generational shift under Jürgen Klopp.
Dr. Constantin Eckner, one of Germany’s leading football journalists and tactical analysts, believes the upcoming international break presents the ideal opportunity for Klopp to begin building the next era of the German national team. While experienced veterans have played a major role over the years, Eckner expects the focus to shift toward younger players with an eye on the 2028 European Championship and the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
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- Aug 12
Germany’s Jonathan Tah on his missed World Cup penalty
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Jonathan Tah stepped up to take the pivotal penalty in Germany’s World Cup shootout loss to Paraguay, but it went all went awry — in fact, it went absolute chimneys. But the Bayern Munich defender has taken it all in stride.
“My general approach is to prepare myself for situations like that,” Tah relayed in an interview with Sky Germany’s Torben Hoffmann (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “In life, you’re always going to experience difficult moments and setbacks. The real question is how you deal with them and how well you’ve prepared yourself for them.
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- Aug 7
Oliver Baumann says Julian Nagelsmann apologized after World Cup benching
Germany goalkeeper Oliver Baumann has opened up about one of the toughest moments of his career after Julian Nagelsmann opted to restore Manuel Neuer as the starting goalkeeper for the World Cup.
Baumann had established himself as Germany’s No. 1 leading up to the tournament, but Nagelsmann, leaning on input from some key players, ultimately turned back to Neuer for football’s biggest stage. While the decision was undoubtedly disappointing for Baumann, the goalkeeper sayid that the ex-Germany coach, who was recently replaced by Jürgen Klopp, reached out afterward to discuss everything openly.
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- Aug 3
Is Concacaf ready to make challenge to FIFA presidency?
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When news broke that FIFA was scrapping its commercialization plans, there was rampant celebration globally.
Now, though, there is likely to be a fallout from the proposal and its driver, FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Within a statement released by Concacaf, it sure seems like the organization could be making a run at the throne:
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- Aug 2
Ranking World Cup performances by Bayern Munich players
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From 1982 to 2022, every single FIFA World Cup Final featured at least one Bayern Munich player. That streak came to an end in 2026, as France lost to Spain and England lost to Argentina in the semifinals. However, that doesn’t mean that Bayern didn’t have plenty of representation in the World Cup.
Today, we’re taking a look at Bayern Munich’s World Cup performances from worst to best (Nathaniel Brown and Ismael Saibari are not included as they only joined Bayern midway through the tournament).
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- Aug 1
Amid threat of boycotts, FIFA ditches commercialization plan
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Per ESPN. FIFA’s controversial plan to bring private investment into the World Cup is officially off the table.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced that the governing body will no longer pursue a proposal that would have created a new commercial subsidiary valued at approximately $20 billion. Under the plan, FIFA would have transferred the commercial rights to its biggest competitions, including the men’s and women’s World Cups and Club World Cups, into the new entity before selling a 20 percent stake to private investors.
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- Aug 1
Bastian Schweinsteiger, Oliver Kahn weren’t pleased with Jamal Musiala’s lack of reaction at World Cup
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There is an old school way of thinking about and playing the game, which pins players and teams against each other. While maybe not going as far to designate the opposition as enemies, they certainly were not friends.
That mentality is starting to slowly erode in modern sports as more players are exposed to each other at younger ages, which can create a bond or a friendship rather than a rivalry.
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- Jul 29
Spain, England, or Argentina? Germany wrestles over post-World Cup path
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What lessons can Germany take from the World Cup? That is the question everyone in and around the DFB is wrestling with in the wake of another disappointing tournament exit.
Former Bayern Munich and Germany star Phillip Lahm has said the Germans “don’t need to copy” world-champion Spain — and DFB director Rudi Völler thinks that runner-up Argentina is not the model, either.
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- Jul 29
Thomas Müller questions if Germany is doing enough for individual player development
Aside from the EURO 2024 run under Julian Nagelsmann on home soil, Germany just have not been good enough in any of the international tournaments they’ve played in since their 2014 World Cup triumph in Brazil. After the era of Das Rebootin the early 2000’s came to its zenith by virtue of winning the World Cup in Brazil, Germany has had a rough go of it on the world’s biggest stages. They didn’t make it out of the group stages at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, and lost out in the Round of 16 in EURO 2020 before getting knocked out in the Round of 32 this summer at the hands of Paraguay in a penalty shootout in Foxborough.
Former Germany and Bayern Munich forward Thomas Müller recently spoke about how individual player development in the country needs to be far better. He feels that the national team and the DFB as a whole is moving too far away from what made them so successful in getting back to where they were in the late 2010s after placing far more emphasis on youth academies, tactical flexibility, and the true art of gegenpressing.
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- Jul 28
‘It takes time’ — Dayot Upamecano’s journey to the top
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Bayern Munich and France men’s national defender Dayot Upamecano is a mainstay these days for club and country — an incredible feat, especially considering the talent available over the years to both sides. But he did not always look like a lock to be a lock in each team’s XI.
Bayern fans will recall when Upamecano was the target of criticism following some Champions League exits earlier in his tenure. His time at France was not the smoothest sailing either, in the beginning.
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- Jul 27
How far should Germany’s roster overhaul go?
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After a third consecutive World Cup disappointment, it was clear that Germany needed change.
Not a change, but overarching change — systemic, internal, external, intrinsical…all of it.
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- Jul 27
Weekend Warm-up: Germany’s roster tiers broken down for the future and MORE!
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The German national team has established its future with Jürgen Klopp and the former Liverpool boss will get going on figuring our what went wrong in the past, where things stand in the present, and how to get Germany where it needs to be for the future.
One of the first tasks for Klopp and Co. will be to assess the roster that was called up for the World Cup. To get out in front of that exercise, BFW has compiled a tiered ranking for the squad — plus some (not all) other candidates for the future. Let’s begin…
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- Jul 26
Bayern Munich star Michael Olise plays in NYC pickup game
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You have to give it to Bayern Munich and France superstar Michael Olise, the man does love football.
How much?
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- Jul 25
Harry Kane could eye another run at glory with England
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Harry Kane’s international future has become a topic of discussion, and expert tipster Mark O’Haire believes England’s captain may have more years left than many expect. Tipster Mark O’Haire using Grosvenor Sport’s World Cup odds said that he could see Kane take one more run at it.
“Harry Kane’s 32 now, so he’ll be 36 come the next World Cup. Ordinarily, you would say he’ll probably be retired from international football or be moved aside, but he’ll have seen the sort of longevity of others like (Lionel) Messi and (Cristiano) Ronaldo. Maybe he wants to leave that door open. Maybe he feels like there’s unfinished business as well. Obviously with the home EUROs on the way, there’s an incentive to stick around a little bit longer. I think what’s also worth noting is England are really lacking depth in the center forward position. Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney are both in their 30s,” O’Haire stated. “Liam Delap is the only real option below 30 kind of playing top level football who’s English qualified, so it’s quite a concerning picture for the long-term future of English football actually in terms of replacements if he was to retire or walk away now.
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- Jul 25
Four German players on list of biggest disappointments at the World Cup
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Portuguese outlet A Bola compiled a list of its 23 biggest disappointments at the World Cup and to no one’s surprise, there were four German players included.
How they were ranked, however, could cause some debate. Joshua Kimmich was No. 2 overall, which seems…off. Kimmich was one of Germany’s better players (if not the best performer), but he was also woefully miscast as a right-back. As captain, he was also the frontman for the failure.
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- Jul 25
Question of the Day: Now that Germany has officially hired Jürgen Klopp, what should the expectations be for EURO 2028?
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The expectations for Germany at EURO 2028 should be high.
Very high.
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- Jul 25
Official: DFB hires Jürgen Klopp as next coach of German national team
In a move that has been anticipated since Germany’s untimely exit from the FIFA World Cup’s Round of 32, the DFB announced the hiring of former Mainz 05, Borussia Dortmund, and Liverpool FC manager Jürgen Klopp as the next head coach of the German national team:
After Germany’s third consecutive poor showing at a World Cup, the need for change was evident. Julian Nagelsmann could not get a handle on managing an international team as his rogue roster decisions, questionable lineup decisions, and overall inability to settle in on anything consistently, prevented the team from establishing an identity and a cohesive mentality.
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- Jul 24
Italy wants…Pep Guardiola?
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A report from Sky Germany indicates that the Italian FA is gunning hard for legendary coach Pep Guardiola, who has recently stepped down from his tenure at Manchester City.
The former Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona coach has left an indelible mark everywhere he has gone, and the long-suffering Azzurri — who have failed to qualify for three straight World Cups — are looking for a savior.
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- Jul 24
Henri Camara breaks down future of Bayern Munich’s Bara Sapoko Ndiaye
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Bayern Munich’s reputation for identifying and developing young talent continues to attract attention around the football world, and one of the latest prospects generating excitement is midfielder Bara Sapoko Ndiaye. While the teenager is still in the early stages of his development, former Senegal international Henri Camara believes Bayern Munich supporters have every reason to be optimistic about what lies ahead.
Speaking about Ndiaye’s future, Camara offered a glowing assessment of the young midfielder.
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