Erik Durm stops: These are the DFB world champions without playing a minute

100 players worldwide

Erik Durm (31), the eleventh player from the 23-man squad of the 2014 world champions, has ended his professional career. Not too many people are aware that the winger, who can be used flexibly both offensively and defensively, was in the DFB squad, because Durm was one of five players who were not used by Joachim Löw in Brazil. A total of 18 DFB players shared this fate in Germany’s four World Cup titles.

In the quarter-finals against France (1-0), Durm almost ended up on the pitch. Left-back Benedikt Höwedes (35) suffered a minor injury. Years later, Durm was able to recall the fact that Löw immediately gave him the signal to warm up “and my pulse immediately went a little faster” in an interview with “Daily Mirror“I still remember it clearly. But Höwedes bit his teeth and continued playing until the final whistle; Durm went back to his regular place on the bench, which he shared in each of the seven tournament games with Roman Weidenfeller (43), Ron-Robert Zieler (34), Kevin Großkreutz (35) and Matthias Ginter (30) shared.

It was thanks to Jürgen Klopp that Durm was surprisingly in the final squad for Brazil after just one Bundesliga season in Dortmund and one international match in preparation for the World Cup. Durm, who was still successfully used as a center forward in the Mainz youth team, was already having a hard time in the 3rd league at BVB II. “I had a hard time asserting myself against the 1.90 meter giants, there’s a huge difference between youth and men’s football,” Durm remembered. In the summer of 2013, Klopp took him aside during preparation with the professionals. “Kloppo said: Being a striker won’t be enough to get to the top. But as a full-back I would have a perspective, I should think about it.”

One year and 29 professional appearances – mainly as a left-back – later, Durm lifted the World Cup trophy at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro. The fact that the peak of his career was reached at the age of 22 was mainly due to numerous injuries and illnesses, which also led to an early end to his active career. Another great triumph followed in 2022 with the Europa League victory with Eintracht Frankfurt, but even without playing, the title of world champion remains for life. What’s it like to live with? “It’s bearable,” said Durm, “it’s not the worst thing. But I’m not imagining anything about it either. I don’t stand up and say: Look, I’m world champion! Why should I?”

World Cup spectators around Durm were praised by ex-DFB captain Schweinsteiger

The later DFB captain Bastian Schweinsteiger (39) emphasized how important the players without playing time were immediately after the final win against Argentina (1-0 n.V.). “The special thing is our substitutes, who didn’t get a chance as often or at all. The way the boys kept up, how they challenged the first team in every training session, makes me confident for the next few years. “I never thought that Kevin Großkreutz was such a cool guy,” said the Munich native at the time. By the way: Only three DFB players were on the pitch for all 690 minutes at the 2014 World Cup, alongside goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (37) and captain Philipp Lahm (40), Durm opponent Höwedes.

Looking at history, a total of exactly 100 players worldwide have had to watch their team win the World Cup title – almost a third are the substitute goalkeepers (37). There have only been five field players in the 21st century so far: In addition to the German trio Durm, Großkreutz and Ginter, central defender Raúl Albiol (38) for Spain in 2010 and Adil Rami (38) for France in 2018 did not play a minute. The most prominent name on the list is Brazil’s former world-class striker Ronaldo (47), who, as an 18-year-old in 1994, was only left with the role of spectator. Eight years later, he shot the “Seleção” to their second title with eight goals.

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