Nagelsmann Says He Wants to Stay as Germany Coach After Shocking World Cup Exit

Germany’s World Cup run is over before it really got going, and now Julian Nagelsmann’s future is the big question hanging over the program. The DFB team lost to Paraguay on penalties in the round of 32, an elimination that stunned everyone including the coach himself.

Speaking to Magenta TV after the match, Nagelsmann was direct about where he stands. “I want to carry on,” he said. But he also made it clear the decision isn’t entirely his. “If the DFB want me to, I’d be happy to prepare for the Euros and the Nations League. If they don’t, they should tell me.”

The knockout that came out of nowhere

Germany came into this tournament with legitimate hopes. They had a tight group, a clear identity, and a coach who seemed to have steadied the ship after some rocky years. So getting bounced in the first knockout round — and in Nagelsmann’s words, by a “deep block” that they couldn’t solve — hit hard.

“The disappointment is enormous,” he said. “We had a very cohesive team that always gave everything.”

When a reporter asked what was going through his mind sitting on the bench after the final whistle, Nagelsmann didn’t sugarcoat it. “Not much, really. When you go out of a tournament, it’s always a defining experience.”

That sounds like a guy who’s still processing. But he also had some sharp critiques of the game itself.

No killer punch, and a call that still stings

Nagelsmann was honest about why Germany didn’t get it done in regulation or extra time. “We controlled the game, but we were somehow lacking the killer punch.” He said the team didn’t find enough solutions against Paraguay’s defensive block and admitted they needed to move the ball quicker at times.

But he pushed back on any suggestion that the effort wasn’t there. “The lads really wanted to win.”

Then there’s the moment that might haunt this tournament for a while. Jonathan Tah thought he’d scored a dramatic winner in stoppage time, but the ref waved it off. Nagelsmann didn’t hold back. “For me as well, it was a perfectly good goal. It’s a joke that he blew for that. I don’t know what he saw there.”

That call didn’t lose the game by itself — Germany had 120 minutes plus penalties to sort it out — but it sure didn’t help.

So now the DFB has to decide. Nagelsmann wants to stay and build toward the 2028 Euros. If the federation wants him gone, they’ll have to tell him. Given how this ended, that conversation might not be comfortable either way.