Just two games for Girona
©IMAGO
Next setback for DFB keeper Marc-André ter Stegen. As FC Girona announced on Wednesday, the 33-year-old goalkeeper will have to undergo another operation on Friday. Ter Stegen suffered a thigh injury in the 1-0 defeat against Real Oviedo, which is more serious than initially thought.
His time in Girona started promisingly. On his debut against Getafe FC (1-1), ter Stegen secured the point with his last action and was then celebrated. The setback followed in the second game against Real Oviedo, even though the former Gladbach player had played through. Ter Stegen was originally supposed to recommend himself for the 2026 World Cup when he was loaned to Girona because he had no chance of a regular place at FC Barcelona under Hansi Flick.
The 2026 World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada is now in danger again as Ter Stegen’s body has caused problems several times in the past. From September 2024 to April 2025 he missed 51 games for Barcelona and the DFB due to a patellar tendon rupture, followed in July 2025 by a four and a half month break due to back surgery. Now it’s time to go under the knife again. The length of his downtime will only be determined after the procedure on Friday.
This means that Ter Stegen will most likely be missing from the German Football Association’s selection at the start of the World Cup year. Coach Julian Nagelsmann gathers his first 2026 squad on March 23rd at the headquarters in Herzogenaurach in preparation for the international test matches in Switzerland and against Ghana. Nagelsmann had already commented on the injury on Tuesday: “Marc was just back and on a really good path, we were really looking forward to his return to the national team. Now we have to continue to do without him – but for Marc personally this setback is of course much harder.” At the moment the only thing that matters to the goalkeeper is getting healthy in peace. “We are all behind him.” Although ter Stegen played at a world-class level for years, he was always in the shadow of Manuel Neuer in the DFB team, so he was never number one at any major tournament.
