TV expert sees World Cup participation in danger
Schweinsteiger: “If we play like this, you can forget it”
04.09.2025 – 11:43 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
The German national team experienced a disastrous evening at the start of the World Cup qualification. World champion Schweinsteiger then found clear words about the DFB appearance.
The German national team had a false start in the qualification for the 2026 World Cup. In Bratislava, the Nagelsmann team lost to the Slovaks, which is superior in almost all phases, with 0: 2. It was the first away defeat in DFB history and had historical dimensions.
The disappointing performance of the German team against the world ranking 52. brought ARD expert Bastian Schweinsteiger in Rage. After the final whistle, the world champion rumbled in an unusually sharp manner: “In no minute of the game I believed that we would win the game. We deservedly lost here. It is a hard setback, no question. Slovakia did it well, of course, but we were really bad.”
What worried him the most worried was the attitude of the German professionals: “I saw a lot more determination at Slovakia. The coach can talk all night all night,” says Schweinsteiger, who even sees a missed the World Cup in the area of the possible: “If we play like this, you can forget it. Then you won’t get far there. “
The 41-year-old continued to put his finger in the wound: “For me it was not a German national team today. The problems did not start today, they started a few years ago.”
Already on Sunday the team has to do Northern Ireland and make it much better. Schweinsteiger: “The only hope is that they come together and Tacheles talk. None of anything came from any player. Someone who once said something to the other, or that there was something to do with – zero, zero. We take the 0: 1, go to the middle circle, put on the ball again and nothing has changed. That was incredible. I have never seen that, I have to say.”
At the end of his billing, the TV expert admitted what was already clearly noted in his analysis: “Today I’m really angry. 1,500 German fans come here and in the end they whistle the team. That hurt.”