Germany must reconnect with our own identity and play with conviction
IMAGE PHOTO AGENCY/GETTY Kai Havertz feels the pain of yet another early World Cup exit by Germany whose days as a ‘tournament team’ are long gone Philipp Lahm’s column was produced in partnership with Oliver Fritsch at the online magazine Die Zeit . I would have liked to see Wirtz in the middle, playing centrally behind Havertz, where he is at his strongest Philipp Lahm 3 Jul 2026 - The Guardian I am stunned. Germany have been eliminated early from a World Cup for the third time in a row . I need time to recover from this. The key word that needs to be discussed is continuity – something the national team have lacked for a decade . German football hasn’t decided how it wants to play . There are constantly new ideas, and new players in new positions . Julian Nagelsmann has experimented too much, and not just during this tournament . Yet developing a team takes years. Germany have always been successful when player roles were clearly defined , the hierarchy was establi...