German football legend Lothar Matthäus wrote in Bild that the German team's performance in this FIFA World Cup was even worse than their group stage exits in 2018 and 2022.

Matthäus's full column in Bild:

I congratulate Spain on winning the FIFA World Cup! De la Fuente's team was the best in all aspects throughout the tournament, excelling in technique, running, and tackling. The team was also a true unit, with tactical discipline at the highest level. Such a team truly deserves to be world champions.

A few days have passed since the FIFA World Cup, and it's time to summarize. What was good, and what was bad? Let's start with the bad, so we can end on a positive note.

In my opinion, Italy is the biggest loser because they weren't even among the 48 participating teams. Germany follows closely, as they once again failed to bring the players' talent onto the field. The national team's overall performance against Ivory Coast, Ecuador, and Paraguay was not impressive. The only game they played better was against Curaçao, but the opponent was too naive in their first match because they wanted to play attacking football against Germany. If they had built up their defense like in the subsequent two games, we would have been in trouble then too. Perhaps, it's better for us to be woken up by reality earlier.

Considering that other teams had an advantage in tackling and running, this is also a matter of mentality and attitude. To this day, I still find it hard to understand why Germany, with such a squad, went home so early. The fact is: the German team's performance was worse than their group stage exit in 2018, and also worse than in 2022. In terms of technical level, this was the worst of the last three FIFA World Cups.

By the way: in Qatar, unlike this time, we had many scoring opportunities in every group stage match. In the end, we had the same points as Spain, but were eliminated due to some bad luck. In that 1-1 draw against Spain, we were evenly matched with our opponents, and even had a chance to win – if we had won, we wouldn't have been eliminated. More importantly: 11 players from that Spanish team became world champions on Sunday. The experienced De la Fuente took over the team after Spain's elimination in the round of 16 of the Qatar FIFA World Cup against Morocco and continued to lead the team forward. In our current FIFA World Cup squad, 9 players also participated in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Improvement? Absolutely none! Although the young former German coach Nagelsmann made many mistakes, the responsibility does not rest solely on him.

What has gone wrong with German football in the past at least three and a half years must now be thoroughly investigated without mercy. I am convinced that Klopp as the new German coach will ensure this.

The fact is, we wasted this FIFA World Cup. Just like the 1994 World Cup in the USA, we ourselves wasted the opportunity, and I was playing on the field then. Many of the mistakes and problems are actually the same, which confuses and annoys me greatly.

What else displeased me in this FIFA World Cup? Too many performances from Trump and Infantino! From the awarding of that fictitious peace prize during the draw, to the FIFA World Cup trophy being handed over to Spain by Trump and Infantino together, it was all too much. Perhaps this is a matter of opinion, but FIFA's suspension of the red card punishment for American striker Balogun after Trump called Infantino is completely unacceptable. This should never happen; it is a betrayal of fair play and football.

Overall, a certain Americanization and extreme commercialization of football makes me very uncomfortable. FIFA has long since sold out football. Nobody needs hydration breaks, at least not in stadiums with roofs and air conditioning; players can drink water themselves during the game. Hydration breaks change the game, with the two halves suddenly becoming four quarters like in basketball. Of course, FIFA and TV broadcasters will package these breaks as commercial content, which is the real reason they set up hydration breaks. I also found the halftime show in the final inappropriate. The artists were great, and the music was great, but why put it at halftime like American football, making the halftime break so long? Why not before the kickoff? And finally, ticket prices. Although there were cheap tickets, their number was obviously relatively small. Overall, the cost for fans, especially those in the USA, is too high. Perhaps this statement is a bit too romantic, but I still hope that football is just football – for everyone!

But let's talk about the good parts of this FIFA World Cup. First, the fans, who, despite high costs, long journeys across time zones and climates, and even immigration checks and other difficulties, still supported their teams in large numbers. The Norwegian fans, Scottish fans, English fans, Argentine fans who came by boat, and many other fans, all impressed me. The number of German fans was also greater than in Qatar, and they were also supporting the team. It is precisely because of this that the disappointment is so great.

Overall, we saw many wonderful and exciting football matches. Attacking teams and dramatic comebacks were constantly unfolding. Not only traditional powerhouses performed well – the top four ranked teams all reached the semifinals – but also top players. Messi (except for the final), Mbappe, Olise, Rodri, Kane, Bellingham, Haaland, etc., all brought great joy to fans. Let's not forget dark horse teams like Cape Verde or Congo. They are the wealth of the FIFA World Cup – not just because they went as far as Germany and the Netherlands.

Initially, I had doubts about the FIFA World Cup expanding to 48 teams. But if it hadn't, we wouldn't have seen those so-called smaller teams. Therefore, I can also imagine a 64-team FIFA World Cup. Just kidding: then Italy would definitely be able to participate. Organizationally, it wouldn't be much different, with 16 groups of 4 teams each, and only the top two advancing to the round of 32.

Finally, a word of comfort about the German team. I see our players performing successfully in their respective top clubs. I also see our youth national teams achieving good results. There is a lot of potential here. I am not worried about the future of German football. But I hope that things can finally be done right.

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