„It won’t be enough“: Expert doubts Urbig’s ability as the national team’s goalkeeper | OneFootball

After the World Cup in North America, the DFB team is shuffling the deck. Manuel Neuer has ended his national team career, and the search is on for a new number one. According to reports, Jürgen Klopp has not yet made up his mind. 

One player who sees an opportunity is Jonas Urbig of FC Bayern. The goalkeeper, who has already drawn attention to himself on numerous occasions during the 2025–26 season, will, however, continue to share goalkeeping duties with Neuer at FCB for one more season.

Theoretically, of course, this could also influence Klopp’s decision. There are several candidates for the goalkeeper position: in addition to Urbig, there are Alexander Nübel, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Bernd Leno, and Noah Atubolu. Oliver Baumann shouldn’t be ruled out just yet either.

Urbig as the national team goalkeeper? An expert has doubts

If it were up to Thomas Helmer, the former Bayern player, things could still get very tight for Urbig—at least in the short term. “I think that’s really the big question,” said former national team player Thomas Helmer on the new TV show “45 – Die Fußball-Halbzeit” on Sport1.

Photo: IMAGO

Helmer elaborated: “Looking at the situation right now: Nübel, who’s playing sensationally in Istanbul and simply has plenty of playing time, is certainly a candidate.” Nübel has kept six consecutive clean sheets right from the start. That sends a strong message to the competition.

Helmer still has some reservations about Urbig. “The question is how much playing time he’ll actually get under Vincent Kompany. Just one cup game against Osnabrück—and I don’t mean this disrespectfully—will certainly not be enough.”

So the issue isn’t whether Urbig has what it takes to be the national team’s goalkeeper at all, but rather how one would justify a goalkeeper who isn’t the starter at his club being the number one on the national team. However, it’s safe to assume that Urbig will be the starting goalkeeper for the record-holding champions starting at least in the summer of 2027.