Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann extends contract through 2026 World Cup. Bayern left still searching
BERLIN (AP) — Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann has extended his contract by two years, taking him beyond the upcoming European Championship and through the 2026 World Cup.
It also ends the possibility of Nagelsmann returning to Bayern Munich, which is looking for a new coach for next season after deciding to part ways with Thomas Tuchel at the end of this season. Nagelsmann was the reported favorite following Xabi Alonso’s decision to stay with Bayer Leverkusen, but now Bayern will need to look elsewhere after two high-profile rejections.
The German soccer federation announced Friday that its supervisory board and shareholders decided unanimously to keep Nagelsmann in charge of the national team after Euro 2024, which Germany is hosting.
“He’s on the wish list of many big clubs across Europe,” federation president Bernd Neuendorf said of Nagelsmann.
The 36-year-old Nagelsmann has overseen a change in mood in Germany after wins over France and the Netherlands following a shakeup of the team last month. He was hired in September on what was initially a short-term deal through to Euro 2024 to fix a run of poor games under predecessor Hansi Flick.
Nagelsmann said staying with Germany was “a decision of the heart. It’s a great honor to be able to train the national team and work with the best players in the country.”
Bayern fired Nagelsmann in favor of Tuchel in March 2023. Bayern went on to win the Bundesliga that season, but only on goal difference after an uneasy start to Tuchel’s tenure. This season, Bayern failed to win the title for the first time since 2012 after Bayer Leverkusen won its first title Sunday.
Tuchel’s team is still in contention in the last four of the Champions League after beating Arsenal in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
The two key management figures involved in Bayern’s decision to fire Nagelsmann a year ago, Oliver Kahn and Hasan Salihamidzic, both left the club shortly after. Bayern’s new sporting director Max Eberl said Wednesday that the search for a new coach was entering “the final phase” in comments reported by the dpa news agency. He didn’t name any candidates.
Nagelsmann’s Germany team is on the up after beating France and the Netherlands, but losses last year to Turkey and Austria had put the coach under some pressure before that. Nagelsmann has three wins, one draw and two losses from six games, all of them friendlies.
Germany knows that extending a coach’s contract ahead of a tournament can backfire.
When Germany gave Joachim Löw a new four-year deal a month before the 2018 World Cup, it was a vote of confidence in the coach who had led the team to the World Cup title four years earlier.
Germany went on to exit the 2018 tournament in the group stage and Löw eventually left in 2021 following a loss to England in the round of 16 at the European Championship.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer