After over two years away from the dugout, Jürgen Klopp returned to the touchline on Thursday as Germany boss. How did it go, and were there signs that he can revive Die Nationalelf?
For a long time, Jürgen Klopp insisted he may never return to football management.
The 59-year-old left Liverpool in May 2024 after admitting he was “running out of energy” following nine years at Anfield. After a break from the game altogether, he returned with Red Bull as its head of global soccer, overseeing the running of their various teams around the world.
The managerial bug can be infectious, though, and following Germany’s disappointing 2026 World Cup and the departure of Julian Nagelsmann, Klopp was asked to come to the rescue.
On Thursday, he took charge of his first game since May 2024 as Germany travelled to face old rivals the Netherlands in their 2026-27 UEFA Nations League opener.
Expectations were high. Klopp leading the German national team always felt like it would happen eventually, and there is optimism the former Mainz and Borussia Dortmund boss can have the same revolutionary impact he had at all three clubs he’s managed.
As mentioned, Germany had a poor World Cup this summer. They started by thrashing Curaçao 7-1, though they needed a late winner to overcome Ivory Coast after that, before losing 2-1 to Ecuador in their final group game.
That was not ideal preparation for a tough last-32 clash with Paraguay, and so it proved. Germany struggled with their opponents’ physical approach and were ultimately eliminated on penalties.
Klopp signed a four-year deal to take over from Nagelsmann, overseeing the Euro 2028 and 2030 World Cup campaigns. His primary challenge is the Nations League, though, and it was a big test first up.
Not only was he taking on the Netherlands in Amsterdam, complete with their own new gaffer in Xavi Hernández – also managing his first game since May 2024 after leaving Barcelona – but he was set to face three of his former Liverpool players. Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo all started for the Dutch, and one of them went on to deny his old boss a debut victory.
Klopp took the unusual step of naming a 44-man squad, with Augsburg goalkeeper Kai Havertz could only play the first half hour after being on the receiving end of a nasty challenge by Quinten Timber, the brother of Havertz’s Arsenal teammate Jurriën.
An early scare came from one of Klopp’s former charges, with Van Dijk converting a Tijjani Reijnders corner, only for the goal to be ruled out after a VAR check judged Brian Brobbey to have fouled Philipp Treu earning his first cap, and he played a key role in the first goal of the Klopp era. Treu’s low cross into the Dutch box from the right was blocked by the sliding Jan Paul van Hecke, but the loose ball fell kindly for Karim Adeyemi and Nathaniel Brown was surprisingly jovial, retreating to his staff with a disbelieving smirk.
It brought back memories of him laughing his head off on the touchline at Anfield in his first season there after Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva – not especially known for his goalscoring – dragged an ambitious shot well wide from distance in a Merseyside derby against Everton. Klopp seemed to be enjoying himself back in his natural habitat.
The Dutch dominated long periods of the second half, having 14 shots to Germany’s five and seven shots on target to zero, but the fact they were losing 1-0 was obviously a factor in that.
It was promising as far as Xavi was concerned that his team created so much. Their 3.18 expected goals (xG) was the first time they had recorded over 3.0 xG against a nation ranked inside FIFA’s top 30 since June 2019 (3.10 vs England).
That pressure eventually told in stoppage time when
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