“You don’t put yourself out there like that.”
Expert: Tablecloth between Nagelsmann and Neuer cut up
Updated April 6, 2026 – 2:11 amReading time: 2 minutes
Despite all the discussions, a comeback in the DFB team is out of the question for world champion Manuel Neuer. Lothar Matthäus has an explanation for this.
The German men’s national soccer team could probably use Manuel Neuer at the upcoming World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. The actual number one, Marc André ter Stegen, is currently injured. Behind them are Oliver Baumann, Alexander Nübel and Jonas Urbig, who are very good goalkeepers, but none of them have anywhere near the success of the 2014 world champion. Among other things, Manuel Neuer was voted world goalkeeper five times. And even at 40 years old, his parades are often still on a different level.
Nevertheless, Neuer doesn’t want to go to the World Cup, he has recently emphasized that several times.
From Lothar Matthäus’s point of view, the troubled relationship between the keeper and national coach Julian Nagelsmann is responsible for this. The two don’t get along, the former world footballer stated on the “Sky90” program. “This tablecloth is so cut up that the best tailor can no longer sew it together,” said Matthäus.
Before joining the DFB, Nagelsmann coached FC Bayern, winning the championship once and the Supercup twice with the club. But during his time at Säbener Strasse, the coach didn’t just make friends; among other things, he surprisingly had goalkeeping coach Toni Tapalovic fired – a close confidante of Neuer. The keeper later said that it felt like his “heart had been ripped out”.
According to Matthäus, the fact that Nagelsmann had forgotten the goalkeeper’s 40th birthday shows that the wounds have probably still not healed. “He knew that Neuer would be 40. All of Germany knew that, all of Europe knew that, and everyone interested in football knew that,” said the record national player on “Sky90”. “And then you don’t stand in front of the camera like that.”
After the international match against Switzerland at the end of March, Nagelsmann was asked on RTL whether he had already congratulated the Bayern keeper. But the national coach appeared puzzled. “Oh, no, haven’t congratulated yet.” The 38-year-old DFB coach asked the professional for understanding. “He can forgive me for having my head somewhere else today.”
Neuer has ruled out a comeback several times, which has been discussed again and again with a view to the World Cup in the summer. The 2014 world champion withdrew from the DFB selection after the 2024 home European Championship. He has not yet decided whether he will renew his expiring contract with the German record champions in Munich.
