Jurgen Klopp appointed Germany national team head coach

Germany have appointed Jurgen Klopp as head coach on a four-year contract, the country’s football association (DFB) said on Friday (Jul 24), handing the former Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund manager the task of leading the national team into a new era after another disappointing World Cup campaign.

Klopp replaces Julian Nagelsmann, who left the role after Germany’s penalty shootout defeat by Paraguay in the round of 32, a result that extended the country’s run of poor World Cup performances following group-stage exits in 2018 and 2022.

"The national team can connect us Germans like hardly anything else. That's exactly what makes this task so special for me," Klopp, who had been working as Red Bull's global head of soccer, said in a statement.

"I am grateful for everything I have experienced and learned in the last year and a half at Red Bull and for the openness that has made this agreement possible in the first place.

"Now I am looking forward to this special task in German football, which we will tackle together with humility and patience: to develop a team that fights for each other, that enjoys football and behind which the people of our country can rally with full conviction."

Klopp will be assisted by Peter Krawietz, Pep Lijnders and former Germany international Sven Bender.

The DFB also appointed former Germany defender Per Mertesacker, a member of the country's 2014 World Cup-winning side, as managing director for sport. He succeeds Andreas Rettig and has signed a contract through to the 2030 World Cup.

DFB president Bernd Neuendorf said Klopp had been the federation’s preferred candidate from the outset.

"We've had very intense discussions. He (Klopp) was our ideal solution from the start," Neuendorf said.

"We at the