Leon Goretzka has not been nominated for the 2024 European Championships, but he is expected to play an important role at the 2026 World Cup. What is responsible for national coach Julian Nagelsmann’s change of heart?
Gaps in the pension insurance history mean a lower pension. Gaps in your CV can mean awkward questions during a job interview. Gaps in memory often help politicians in committees of inquiry and are therefore detrimental to finding the truth.
Gaps in the national team career usually have simple reasons. The form was bad, someone was injured for a long period of time. Then no one asks.
In Leon Goretzka’s national team career, which now includes 68 appearances with 15 goals, there is a gap between November 21, 2023 and March 20, 2025, and that raises questions.
At a sporting level similar to 2024
His very few days out during this period were limited to phases in which there were no international matches. So was it the form why the now 31-year-old Goretzka did not wear the national jersey in the calendar year 2024 and therefore missed the European Championship?
From the beginning of 2024 until the nomination, Goretzka played in every Bundesliga game for FC Bayern. Things were different in the Champions League, because in the second leg of the semi-final against Real Madrid he sat on the bench the whole time. In the quarter-final against Arsenal, the trade magazine “kicker” gave him a grade of 2.0 for the first leg and a 2.5 for the second leg. It was a straight three for the first comparison with Real.
The average grade in “kicker” for the 23/24 Bundesliga season was 3.33. In the current season it is 3.36. Goretzka was used twelve times in the twelve Bundesliga games in the 2026 calendar year. He only came on as a substitute in the 90th minute against Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund, and in the 68th against Bayer Leverkusen.
Since he sat on the bench the entire time against TSG Hoffenheim and initially had to watch Atalanta Bergamo in the Champions League, it is reasonable to conclude that Bayern coach Vincent Kompany initially relies on other players in duels with opponents who are rated as stronger than relegation candidates.
Participated in every international match since March 2025
Leon Goretzka is at a similar athletic level to 2024 and is two years older. Nevertheless, there has been no gap in his national team career since the game on March 20, 2025 in Italy. Back then, he even headed a goal during his comeback; it was his 15th and so far last for the selection of the German Football Association. He then provided one assist in ten international matches.
National coach Julian Nagelsmann (l.) gives Leon Goretzka instructions
There are two assists and two goals for his 24 appearances this season in the Bundesliga. Goretzka scored the final score in the 8-1 win against VfL Wolfsburg and the 3-0 win at Werder Bremen.
The numbers for the 23/24 season were better, but Goretzka still couldn’t find a place in the squad for the European Championships, even when his Munich club colleague Aleksandar Pavlović had to withdraw due to illness. Instead, Emre Can, who had previously not been considered under Nagelsmann, was nominated.
Goretzka was deeply disappointed and made it public. Behind his hands you could hear that he was still biting his tongue.
Goretzka is now selected for the 2026 World Cup squad, and not only that, national coach Julian Nagelsmann sees him in the starting line-up rather than on the bench.
What has happened in the past two years?
No one in the know would say that Goretzka didn’t deserve a nomination, nor would anyone say that these or those two players in central midfield would be better than a duo in which Goretzka’s name appears.
But somehow it doesn’t add up that it didn’t fit at all in 2024 and should now be the preferred solution. What has happened in the past two years?
Julian Nagelsmann was asked this question on Sunday in Stuttgart, one day before the friendly against Ghana.
“Leon could expect significantly less playing time in 2024. But he’s not guaranteed to be a regular player now either. Period,” said Nagelsmann. There are “1,000 reasons” to make different decisions about the composition of the squad now than two years ago.
Kroos comeback in spring 2024
An investigation into the causes of Nagelsmann’s change of heart regarding Goretzka cannot be done without the name Toni Kroos. Its comeback in spring 2024 dominated the headlines around the DFB team. The international star from Real Madrid immediately influenced the national team’s game, which was suddenly so much better than in the dreary autumn of 2023.
With Kroos came a euphoria that Goretzka experienced from afar. As the national team prepared for the tournament, he belted out Grönemeyer’s anthem “Bochum” in the stands of the Ruhrstadion and trembled with VfL from his hometown in the relegation battle to stay in the Bundesliga.
Leon Goretzka as a fan in the Bochum stadium
“Toni Kroos and İlkay Gündoğan played every game in central midfield back then”said Nagelsmann, and for “the role as backup” be Goretzka “not considered optimal” been.
Now, according to the national coach, Goretzka has it “Development steps have been taken to accept one’s role at Bayern as it is.” A role to sit obediently on the bench in his final months at FC Bayern. The contract is expiring and there will be no new one. Goretzka announced a move abroad.
Before that, he wants to play an important role at the World Cup. It will be Goretzka’s third. In Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 it ended after the preliminary round.
