From European Championship absentee to World Cup candidate: Nagelsmann surprises with Goretzka | OneFootball

Leon Goretzka has experienced a remarkable turnaround in the DFB team. Just last year, the Bayern professional was dropped from the national team and even missed out on the home European Championships. Now everything indicates that the 31-year-old could play an important role again at the upcoming World Cup

Statements by national team coach Julian Nagelsmann in an interview with kicker recently caused a stir, in which the 38-year-old made it clear that Goretzka has a good chance of playing for the DFB team despite his current reduced playing time at FC Bayern

„As things stand, Leon Goretzka will have a good chance of playing and playing a similar role to the World Cup qualifiers, despite less playing time at Bayern,“ explained Nagelsmann. A statement that surprised many observers

From top performer to European Championship spectator

Goretzka was long regarded as one of the most important players in the German midfield. When Nagelsmann took over as national coach in September 2023, the Bayern professional was initially still part of the regular squad

However, the situation changed after weak international matches against Austria and Turkey in the autumn of 2023, with Nagelsmann opting for a different structure in central midfield in the European Championship year

Toni Kroos was brought back as a playmaker, while the national coach also opted for the defensively strong Robert Andrich. At the same time, the distribution of roles within the team also played an important role

Nagelsmann wanted clear hierarchies and players who fully accepted their roles – even as supplementary players. The national team coach clearly did not see this constellation in the desired form with Goretzka

As a result, the midfielder was left out of the DFB squad in March 2024 and missed the entire home European Championships

Silence between Nagelsmann and Goretzka

photo: IMAGO

There was a long period of silence between coach and player after the withdrawal, with Nagelsmann himself admitting that the conversation about the non-nomination had been difficult

For almost a year, Goretzka’s DFB career seemed practically over

It was not until the spring of 2025 that things took a surprising turn for the better when Nagelsmann contacted his former player again after FC Bayern’s Champions League round of 16 second leg against Bayer Leverkusen

The two spoke at a personal meeting and Goretzka was nominated for the Nations League play-offs shortly afterwards

The Bayern professional immediately made the most of his return, impressing the national coach once again with a strong performance against Italy

Nagelsmann was impressed afterwards: „Leon has shown that it’s worth sticking with it, going through valleys and staying out of the many discussions.“

Since then, Goretzka has once again been a permanent member of the national team. Despite his current reserve role at FC Bayern, the midfielder now seems to have the best chance of making the World Cup squad.