Article by Dragoș Petrescu – published on Saturday, September 6, 2025 7:14 / Updated on Saturday, September 6, 2025 7:32
Germany started with the left the qualification campaign for the 2026 World Championship. “Die Mannschaft” gave in to Slovakiascore 0-2, a result that sparked a strong wave of criticisms, the main targeted being the Julian Nagelsmann (38 years old) coach.
The full program of stage #2 of Group A (CM 2026 preliminaries)
After the end of the match in Bratislava, Nagelsmann was placed on the wall by German journalists, but it was not only criticized by the press.
Two days away from the shame with Slovakia, Jens Lehmann, the goalkeeper who wrote history at Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, Schalke 04, but also to the German national, addressed heavy words to the “Die Mannschaft” coach, which he considers the main culprit for the weak benefit of the team.
Jens Lehmann about Julian Nagelsmann: “Just try to soften the public”
In an interview with Welt TV, Lehmann spoke without a curtain about the problems that Germany is facing, saying that, at this moment, the role of selector seems to be a far too big hat for Julian Nagelsmann.
To accurately understand what is happening on the field is twice as difficult for a young trainer, who has never seen much and has never played at the highest level.
He (no – Nagelsmann) said that the players did not give everything, that they did not play with enough emotion. This is just an excuse and I noticed that it does this all the time. Just try to soften the public.
From my point of view, he has no excuse. It has the best footballers in Germany and it is inadmissible to provide such a game. If you fail to achieve results with such players, it means you are not suitable for this role.
– Jens Lehmann, for Welt TV
Julian Nagelsmann reached the third consecutive defeat with the German national: 1-2 with Portugal and 0-2 with France, in the end of the UEFA Nations League, respectively 0-2 with Slovakia, in the preliminaries CM 2026 / Photo: Imago Images
For Germany follows the duel with Northern Ireland. The match will take place on Sunday, September 7, on Rheinenergiestadion in Cologne, from 9:45 pm.
The other match of Group A will be played between Luxembourg and Slovakia, also on Sunday, from the same hour.
Group A ranking (CM 2026 preliminaries):
