Former Germany players have hit out at Jurgen Klopp for comments he made about national coach Julian Nagelsmann while working as a pundit covering the 2026 World Cup.
Former Liverpool manager Klopp has been employed as a TV pundit alongside former Germany and Bayern Munich midfielder ThomasMueller for the duration of the tournament.
In the lead-up to Germany’s opener against Curacao, Klopp was critical of Nagelsmann’s starting line-up.
Get all the latest football news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!
The 59-year-old manager said he would have chosen a different XI and added “luckily, Julian Nagelsmann is still picking the team — for now.”
Klopp stepped down from club management in 2024 but has been repeatedly linked to the German national team job.
With Germany winning the match 7-1, a number of former German players have been critical of the comments.
Lothar Matthaeus, Germany’s record appearance holder with 150 caps, said “Jurgen should know better.”
“His comments aren’t going to make Nagelsmann’s job any easier. I’d like to see what he would have said if, before an important Champions League match, a pundit had advised him to leave one of his key players on the bench.”
Champions League winner Stefan Effenberg, who played for Germany 35 times, called the comments “unacceptable”.
“You can make a remark like that over a beer at the bar, but certainly not in front of millions of television viewers.
“It’s a definite ‘no go’.”
Klopp has since apologised.
“I could have slapped myself across the face for saying that,” Klopp said.
“It just slipped out casually — it has absolutely no significance,” he added.
Nagelsmann refused to engage in the discussion, telling reporters in his pre-match press conference: “(Germany has) plenty of experts — Thomas and Jurgen are good lads.
“They’ve had a lot of success in the football world. They can talk about whatever they want. That’s just how it is.”
AFL STAR’S WORLD CUP ‘DISGRACE’
GWS Giants player Jake Stringer has called it “a disgrace” that his team played St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Sunday at the same time the Socceroos defeated Turkiye 2-0 in their World Cup opener in Vancouver.
The Giants’ eight-point loss to the Saints began at 3.15pm AEST, during the second half of the Socceroos clash, which kicked off at 2pm AEST.
As a result, Stringer took aim at the AFL for the scheduling clash
“It’s a disgrace, honestly,” the 32-year-old told Footy on Nine. “Let us watch the Aussies. It’s once every four years.
“Don’t put the games at the same time. They want attendance, they want people to watch – no one’s watching (the AFL), everyone’s going to watch the World Cup.”
The former Western Bulldogs and Essendon forward had the support of his captain Toby Greene.
The Giants star ridiculed the crossover before the game, saying he would put the Socceroos match on in the rooms, and doubled down on his comments in the aftermath.
“Our game should have started at 11am on Sunday and they could have done a Socceroos watch party at Marvel (Stadium) after our game,” Greene told the ‘Ausmerican Aces’ podcast.
“I would have stayed and watched it … I love footy as much as anyone but I’m watching the Socceroos on Sunday if I had the choice.
“I don’t know why they’d even try and bother competing with it. Just embrace it and go, ‘alright, the Socceroos are playing 2pm – first game of the World Cup – let’s start the Giants and Saints at 11am and then maybe have a Marvel watch party.
“I reckon it would have been a great idea, and everyone would have got around it and everyone would have stayed and Marvel would have done more numbers as a result. I reckon they missed a trick there.”
A crowd of 17,748 attended the Giants’ clash with the Saints as 4.78 million Australians tuned in for the Socceroos’ victory and flooded live sites around the country.
Not every was on board with Stringer and Greene’s view, however, with St Kilda coach Ross Lyon defending the decision to go head-to-head.
“I like the attitude,” Lyon said. “We’re the AFL, we’re a Saints home game, our people will come.”
READ MORE
Hero Roos captain was just axed at WC. Here’s what we know… and a murky theory
World Cup LIVE — 50k to 2m! 40yo hero goes viral as minnows stun Euro champions
‘S**t’s hilarious’: US pundit doubles down — then gets brutal smackdown from Socceroos icon
Egypt denied a first ever World Cup win | 01:24
SACKED AFTER 90 MINUTES?
Tunisia coach Sabri Lamouchi’s job is in the balance as federation chiefs are holding talks following the humiliating 5-1 defeat by Sweden in their opening World Cup match, a source told AFP Monday.
Lamouchi has only been in charge since January and could be replaced by Mondher Kebaier, who coached the national side from 2019 to 2022.
Kebaier is with the Tunisian World Cup delegation which is based in Monterrey, Mexico.
“Discussions are underway between members of the federation,” the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
He added that a decision “in one sense or the other” should be taken “in the next few hours”.
Several Tunisian media outlets claimed Lamouchi would be sacked. After Sunday’s loss, Tunisia now have a tough task to reach the second stage of a World Cup at the seventh attempt.
Their remaining group matches are against Japan in Monterrey next Saturday and the Netherlands in Kansas City on June 25.
Japan drew 2-2 with the Dutch in their opening game on Sunday. Former France international Lamouchi, 54, had previous World Cup experience having coached Ivory Coast at the 2014 edition but he resigned after they failed to make the knockout stages.
READ MORE
Aussie ref’s staggering explanation over WC hand gesture as FIFA responds to ugly fallout
Talking Pts — Huge snub exposes thrilling ‘Roos reality; Popa truth we all should’ve known
Wrap — VAR’s bizarre snicko moment as superb sub sparks controversy with 18-sec act
LIVERPOOL GREAT BECOMES LATEST TO BLAST BIG WORLD CUP CHANGE
Virgil van Dijk does not like them, fans have started booing them and the many critics say they are ruining the World Cup.
Hydration breaks last just a total of six minutes during a match, but they stand accused of fundamentally changing the nature of football at the sport’s ultimate showpiece.
“Hydration breaks are a bit interesting,” said Netherlands captain van Dijk, whose side drew 2-2 with Japan in Texas on Sunday in an air-conditioned arena.
“I was watching almost all of the games up until today and every time going into a commercial is a bit… not really that I like it.
“I think for the neutral watchers on TV it’s also not great.” Also Sunday, over at tournament co-host Mexico, spectators during Sweden’s 5-1 thrashing of Tunisia in Monterrey made their disdain plain by booing loudly when the pause came in the first half.
Fans similarly jeered the break in Monday’s game between Spain and Cape Verde in the air-conditioned arena in Atlanta.
The scheduled drinks breaks, not normally part of football, last three minutes each about midway through both halves of a game at the tournament in North America.
Football’s world governing body FIFA says they are designed to protect player health and will be used at all World Cup games no matter where or what the weather.
So during the clash between the Netherlands and Japan, the game was halted even though the match was played in comfortable temperature-controlled conditions under a roof.
– ‘Damaged for dollars’ –
During the first hydration break at the stadium usually home to the Dallas Cowboys, the NFL team’s cheerleaders were shown performing on the giant screen that hovers over the centre of the pitch.
For people in the United States watching on television, broadcasters take the chance to cut away from the game and show commercials.
In American sports, there is nothing unusual in that.
But some critics have accused FIFA of greed, feeding into a narrative that has consistently dogged the tournament and its decision-makers.
The world governing body denies those accusations.
“This is the year when the game of two halves became the game of four quarters,” prominent British football writer Henry Winter said.
“And the greatest sport and event was damaged for fistfuls of dollars.” In a warning that will send a chill down the spines of traditionalists, Winter warned that the stoppages — and the chance for a money-spinning ad break — could one day be rolled out everywhere.
In England, the BBC and ITV show World Cup matches but do not cut away from games during the stoppages.
“It’s important that there is resistance to this from all over,” he said. “Because if we tolerate this, our TV games could be next.”
– Momentum shift –
And then there is the effect on the natural flow of matches. It might be just a coincidence, but several games have seen a noticeable shift in momentum from one team to the other immediately after a hydration break.
Because while the players are drinking, coaches understandably use it as a chance to change tactics or give out instructions if the game is not going their way.
Debutants Curacao levelled for 1-1 after 21 minutes against the mighty Germany on Sunday in Houston, another game played under a roof.
Then came the pause, and with it went any Curacao momentum, the Germans running out 7-1 winners.
Not everyone is against the drinks breaks, however, with Spain coach Luis de la Fuente saying player welfare was paramount.
“It is difficult to sustain that level of physical exertion for long periods and I believe those breaks offer a brief respite to recharge and continue competing well,” he said.
But he also noted that, while some World Cup cities are experiencing fierce temperatures, it is not true across all venues, including some outside ones.
For example in Los Angeles this week temperatures are forecast to be about 15-28C.
Van Dijk said there should be flexibility.
“If it’s really hot, obviously it would be good to put them (breaks) in,” said the Liverpool defender.
“But I think you have to look at it in every game separately in my opinion.”
Aus centre of attention ahead of USA | 02:40
‘THAT’S BEHIND US’: AFCON DRAMA LEFT IN THE PAST
Senegal coach Pape Thiaw insisted Monday that the controversy of January’s Africa Cup of Nations final was firmly a thing of the past as his side focus on the World Cup and their opening opponents France.
“I am not going to go back over the AFCON, that’s behind us. This is the World Cup. We have prepared well for it and we are focused on tomorrow’s match,” Thiaw said of Tuesday’s Group I clash at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
It is almost exactly five months since January’s Cup of Nations final in Rabat, in which Senegal beat Morocco 1-0 after extra time.
That was after much of the Senegal team walked off in protest at a late penalty awarded to the hosts — the players eventually came back on, Morocco’s Brahim Diaz had the spot-kick saved, and Pape Gueye went on to score the winner.
Senegal, who had been furious at a goal for them being disallowed, were able to celebrate becoming African champions for the second time.
However, they were sensationally stripped of the title two months later by the Confederation of African Football as a punishment for the walk-off.
They have taken their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the Lions of Teranga are still awaiting the outcome of that appeal.
Thiaw was an unused substitute when Senegal beat France 1-0 in their opening game at the 2002 World Cup. That was a shock of monumental proportions, but he insists a repeat performance this time would not be.
“It would not be a surprise if we beat a France team with world-class players. France are favourites, but our team has been champions of Africa and we have qualified for a third straight World Cup,” he said.
Senegal will be led by Sadio Mane returning to a World Cup at 34 after missing the 2022 edition with injury. Skipper Kalidou Koulibaly, the central defender who was born in France, is fit after a back problem.