World Cup row over Neuer? Now the DFB has spoken out | OneFootball

There was a lot of turmoil surrounding Manuel Neuer’s return to the DFB team. That’s well known. Critics expressed skepticism, and many felt that Oliver Baumann had been treated unfairly. And it didn’t stop there. 

Most recently, a report by ranadded fuel to the fire. It claimed that Neuer’s return to the World Cup goal had led to “massive discord within the DFB team.” According to this report, goalkeeper coach Andreas Kronenberg even considered resigning due to what it described as a unilateral move by former national team coach Julian Nagelsmann regarding Neuer’s selection.

However, that does not appear to have been the case. The DFB denied this account in a statement to *Focus *.

DFB Clarifies the Neuer Situation

“The DFB denies that Julian Nagelsmann acted unilaterally regarding the goalkeeper situation and that Andreas Kronenberg threatened to resign. Although the decision was the subject of controversial and critical discussion, the entire team stood behind it,” the statement reads.

Photo: Getty Images

Nevertheless, it seems clear that bringing him back before the tournament didn’t do the team any favors. There was a lot of discussion, and the move certainly didn’t bring any calm. And Neuer’s impact on the team’s performance is also open to critical scrutiny.

The DFB team’s run in the tournament in North America came to an end as early as the round of 32. They were eliminated by Paraguay in a penalty shootout. The DFB also denied reports that Neuer had made the exclusion of Nübel from the 2026 World Cup squad a condition for his return.

The original report stated that Neuer had preferred his Bayern teammate Jonas Urbig for the goalkeeper squad. In the end, Urbig traveled with the team as a training goalkeeper to ensure that everything ran smoothly.