Joshua Kimmich didn’t hide. He didn’t deflect. And he sure didn’t sugarcoat what just happened.
After Germany stumbled out of the World Cup in the Round of 16 — losing to Paraguay on penalties after 120 minutes of mostly forgettable soccer — the captain walked into the mixed zone and basically said what a lot of fans back home were already thinking.
“We were completely deserving of our elimination,” Kimmich said. “It feels terrible and not good.”
That’s about as blunt as it gets for a national team captain, especially one who just saw his side bounce out in the first knockout round against a Paraguay team that wasn’t supposed to be here this long.
A tournament full of red flags
This wasn’t just one bad night. Kimmich made that clear. He pointed out that Germany never really looked right in any of its four matches. Not against the lower-tier opponents, not in the moments that mattered.
“We didn’t play at our best against any opponent,” Kimmich said. “Three times we had major problems against non-world-class teams. That’s a fact.”
The numbers back him up. Germany gave up goals in bunches, made unforced errors in dangerous areas, and looked sluggish building attacks. Even in the group stage win that got them here, the warning signs were there. Kimmich had already called out the mistakes and the goals conceded after the loss to Ecuador. And then nothing really changed.
Against Paraguay, Germany controlled possession but created almost nothing with it. Long stretches where the ball moved sideways. No one willing to take a risk. The kind of performance that gets you beat in knockout soccer, and it did.
Kimmich buried his penalty in the shootout, cool as ever. But three of his teammates couldn’t say the same, and that was that.
No excuses, no finger-pointing
Here’s where Kimmich’s postgame comments stood out. He didn’t blame the coach. Didn’t blame the refs. Didn’t mention bad luck or the travel schedule or the pressure of playing on foreign soil.
“We’re playing here to make Germany proud. As a child, I always watched Germany reach the semifinals and the final. We weren’t able to give that to the viewers at home,” Kimmich said. “I think people in Germany need something to be proud of right now — unfortunately, that’s not the national team. We, the players on the field, messed it up, and we take responsibility for that. It wasn’t the coach’s fault, it wasn’t the media’s fault, it wasn’t the referee’s fault, it wasn’t the opponent’s fault. It was entirely our fault.”
That’s a heavy quote from a 31-year-old who has now been part of three straight disappointing World Cups. 2018 in Russia: group stage exit. 2022 in Qatar: group stage exit again. And now 2026: out in the Round of 16 after a penalty shootout.
The arc of this generation of German soccer has not gone the way anyone expected after the 2014 title. And Kimmich, for all his talent and leadership, is now the face of that frustration. He knows it. He didn’t run from it.
“It wasn’t an unlucky slip-up,” he said. “It was the result of an overall disappointing World Cup.”
That’s the truth, and he said it out loud. Whether the German federation hears it is another question.
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