ATLANTA (AP) — Germany officials have held talks with Jurgen Klopp and both sides are confident he will take over as coach, the national soccer federation said Saturday.
Former coach Julian Nagelsmann resigned after his team failed to make the round of 16 for the third World Cup running.
Klopp, a serial trophy winner with Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund, was quickly identified as the favorite to succeed him.
The German federation said talks were held in New York on Friday with Klopp, who is currently in an executive role as head of global soccer for the Red Bull group.
“In the constructive exchange, an understanding was reached on essential key points of a potential contract,” it said. “Both sides are confident that the negotiations, subject to an agreement with Klopp’s current employer Red Bull, can ultimately be successfully concluded.”
Klopp has been working as a pundit on German TV at the World Cup, even taking part in postgame interviews with Nagelsmann at the side of the field.
He has not been a coach since leaving Liverpool in 2024 after winning a full set of trophies with the iconic club, including the Champions League and Premier League.
“About two years ago I stopped at Liverpool and said that I lacked the energy for another job or for another year with Liverpool. Since then I’m more than recharged, I’m ready,” he told German broadcaster Magenta TV last week.
Germany has repeatedly failed at the World Cup since winning the trophy for the fourth time in 2014.
Since then it was eliminated at the group stage in 2018 and 2022. Germany advanced beyond the group stage at this year's expanded 48-team format, but was knocked out by Paraguay on penalties in the newly-introduced round of 32.
Klopp held talks with German federation president Bernd Neuendorf and vice president Hans-Joachim Watzke.
The 59-year-old has been regarded as one of the game's top coaches since breaking Bayern Munich's dominance of German soccer by winning two league titles with Borussia Dortmund.
He took over at Liverpool in 2015 and ended the Merseyside club's 30-year wait for an English league title in 2020.
He also won the Champions League among seven major trophies during his time at Anfield. He might have won more if not for the fact he was competing against a dominant Manchester City under Pep Guardiola.
There has been speculation about whether he would return to coaching and, as recently as March, he denied claims he’d join Real Madrid.
Following Germany's exit from the World Cup, Klopp said there was a “need to change things fundamentally,” arguing that Nagelsmann was an “excellent coach” who wasn’t to blame for another disappointing campaign.
James Ellingworth in Duesseldorf contributed to this report.
James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Pickleball Read morePickleball
guest451b1314c33e39b26ab3edda said:
Dirk van Ulden said:
Who knew that Platner was a closet Catholic?
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.