Jurgen Klopp returns to Germany hot seat tasked with restoring belief after World Cup trauma

Jurgen Klopp has been appointed Germany head coach with a clear brief to revive a four-time World Cup-winning nation whose confidence has crumbled since their 2014 triumph.

The former Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund manager, 59, steps back into frontline coaching two years after leaving Anfield, where he cited exhaustion as the main reason for his departure. He now takes on what may be the most demanding assignment of his career: repairing both results and self-belief in a team that has slipped from European powerhouse to serial underachiever.

Germany, the most decorated nation in European football history, have lurched from setback to crisis in the decade since lifting the World Cup in Brazil. Their latest disappointment – a last-32 exit against Paraguay, sealed by a first-ever World Cup penalty shootout defeat – prompted the German FA (DFB) to turn to Klopp as the man to lead a reset.

Known for transforming struggling giants at Mainz, Dortmund and Liverpool, Klopp has built a reputation for changing the culture and psychology of clubs as much as their tactical approach. His arrival has been greeted with widespread optimism in the German media, many tipping him to construct a dynamic, high-intensity side reminiscent of his peak teams in the Bundesliga and Premier League.

From doubters to believers – again

Klopp’s immediate challenge, however, is less about style and more about mindset. His most famous line at Liverpool’s unveiling in 2015 – “if someone wants to help LFC, you have to change from doubter to believer” – now frames his mission with the national side.

Germany’s aura as a ruthless tournament force, once renowned for thriving under pressure and excelling in penalty shootouts, has faded badly. In stark contrast to the past, their exit against Paraguay exposed a fragile mentality at the very moment when previous generations had been strongest.

In that shootout, with Germany on the brink of elimination, Manuel Neuer saved Paraguay’s fifth kick to keep them alive. Instead of seizing the moment, captain Joshua Kimmich was left cajoling hesitant team-mates to take the next penalty. Jonathan Tah, who had never taken a spot-kick in senior football, eventually volunteered and blasted his effort over the bar, consigning Germany to their first World Cup shootout defeat and underlining the psychological rebuilding job that awaits Klopp.

An unconventional path to the top

Klopp’s own story has long fed into the mythology that surrounds him. Born in Stuttgart, he spent his entire playing career at Mainz, largely in Germany’s second division, and has frequently joked about his limitations as a footballer.

“I had the talent for the fifth division, and the mind for the Bundesliga. The result was a career in the second division,” he once said of his years as a defender.

Appointed Mainz coach at 33, he immediately kept the club up before earning them promotion to the Bundesliga for the first time in their history. That rescue-and-rise pattern would become a hallmark of his career.

Dortmund revival and Liverpool transformation

Klopp took charge at Borussia Dortmund in 2008, inheriting a club still reeling from financial crisis. Just a few years earlier they had come close to bankruptcy and, at one point, had even borrowed two million euros from Bayern Munich simply to pay their players. The season before Klopp arrived, Dortmund had finished 13th in the Bundesliga.

Within three years he had turned them into champions, delivering back-to-back Bundesliga titles and guiding them to the 2013 Champions League final, where they were narrowly beaten by Bayern.

After a brief sabbatical, Klopp joined Liverpool in 2015, tasked with reviving another fallen giant – this time one of world football’s most storied institutions. In his first Anfield press conference he introduced himself with characteristic self-awareness as “the normal one”, a playful nod to Jose Mourinho’s self-styled “special one” persona. It was a moment that helped cement his image as an approachable, everyman figure, a contrast that further endeared him to fans.

At Liverpool, Klopp identified a lack of belief as a core issue alongside any tactical or technical deficiencies. Over nine years he oversaw a complete transformation, leading the club to every major trophy available, including the Premier League and Champions League. His “doubters to believers” mantra became shorthand for the cultural shift he engineered before he stepped down in 2024.

Tempted back by the only job that fit

Following his departure from Liverpool, Klopp attracted interest from some of the game’s biggest names, with Real Madrid and England among those monitoring his situation. Instead, he moved into a broader strategic position, taking on a role overseeing Red Bull’s football operations, and appeared content away from the touchline.

As the months passed, speculation grew that his coaching days might be over. In an interview with AFP in January, Klopp hinted he was unlikely to return to the dugout.

“I don’t expect to change my mind, but I don’t know… It might sound arrogant, but I know I can coach a football team. But I don’t need to do it until my last day,” he said.

Despite his apparent reluctance to re-enter the relentless cycle of club management, the Germany job always seemed the one post capable of changing his mind. Another failed World Cup campaign – and the manner of that defeat by Paraguay – created precisely that opening.

Klopp now inherits a side stripped of the certainty that once defined German football, from group stages to penalty shootouts. As with Mainz, Dortmund and Liverpool, he faces a familiar combination of challenges: repairing a damaged collective psyche, restoring clarity on the pitch, and convincing a sceptical public that this team can again be feared on the international stage.