“He has to play”
Future of ter Stegen: Rudi Völler with announcement
01/11/2026 – 1:47 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Rudi Völler emphasizes: Goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen urgently needs match practice in order to maintain his chances at the World Cup. The “rough framework” will be in place in March.
For Marc-André ter Stegen, one thing is certain: if he wants to take part in the World Cup, he urgently needs match practice. Rudi Völler emphasized this again: “He has to play,” the DFB sports director made clear in Sport1’s “Doppelpass”. “Especially after his injury, and the legend of his injuries, he also needs the match practice to get back into it – despite all the quality.”
Ter Stegen has just recovered from back surgery and made his comeback in the cup at the end of last year. Nevertheless, he doesn’t get beyond the reserve role at FC Barcelona. With a view to his World Cup chances, he has apparently cleared the way to a change of club. As the Spanish newspaper “Sport” reported, the 33-year-old had given his general consent to a loan to the Spanish first division club FC Girona, which was threatened with relegation.
In Ter Stegen’s absence, Oliver Baumann was in goal for the German national team and performed the role well. Baumann is doing “incredibly well,” said Völler. You can “100 percent rely” on the Hoffenheim player.
Germany will test against Ghana in two and a half months in Switzerland (March 27) and three days later in Stuttgart. According to Völler, the majority of the German World Cup squad will then be confirmed. “At the next deposition in March it will become clear who will be there,” he said. The “rough framework” can then be seen there.
Völler remained tight-lipped about the whiz kid Lennart Karl’s World Cup chances. “I’m sure Julian Nagelsmann will have watched his performance favorably,” said the 65-year-old about FC Bayern’s young star. It remains to be seen whether other players who have so far been under the radar will emerge. Record national player Lothar Matthäus targeted Jeff Chabot from VfB Stuttgart. “He doesn’t have an international match yet, but I also see him as a candidate,” he said on Sky.