Jurgen Klopp’s strange World Cup: Saying sorry to Nagelsmann, becoming a meme and fake quotes – The Athletic
The World Cup is not yet a week old, and already former Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp has had an eventful tournament.
Currently Red Bull’s global head of soccer, the 58-year-old has been embroiled in an argument with Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann, drawn the anger of a trio of high-profile internationals and become a meme.
He has also become a hero and hypocritical villain for something that he absolutely did not say.
So, the argument with Nagelsmann first…
During this World Cup, Klopp is working for Magenta TV, a streaming platform which has rights to every game. He has been paired with Thomas Muller, the former Bayern Munich and Germany forward — now of the Vancouver Whitecaps — and the two have struck up a rapport, becoming a punditry double-act.
The dynamic is matey and punchy, with lots of high jinks and backslapping. Both wore replica shirts for Germany’s first game against Curacao over the weekend, and are leaning into a fans-in-stadium vibe. They are celebrating goals, standing arm-in-arm to boom out the national anthem; they are not playing it cool and, actually, while not to everyone’s tastes, they are a lot of fun.
Thomas Müller e Jürgen Klopp comemorando um dos gols da Alemanha hoje. 🫂
(@eurofootcom) pic.twitter.com/Kw1L8WQXFX
— Bundesliga Insider (@BundesInsider) June 14, 2026
German television can be quite conservative. Football coverage can also often be dominated by ex-players, bluntly exchanging unnecessarily strident views. This is a welcome change of tone. Klopp and Muller are getting on famously and the chemistry between them has improved the coverage.
It’s even birthed a meme, with Klopp and Muller caught mid-cackle, Ray Liotta-in-Goodfellas style, now being used for all sorts.
But there has been controversy, too.
Before the Curacao game, asked for his preferred lineup, Klopp made the case for starting Deniz Undav ahead of Jamal Musiala — and that’s not as unreasonable as it sounds. Musiala has had a difficult time since recovering from a serious left ankle injury and has not looked himself this season. By contrast, only Harry Kane scored more Bundesliga goals than Stuttgart’s Undav.
Jamal Musiala has had a difficult season since returning from injury (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
It was not an outrageous position to take, but it did not prove popular. Klopp earned himself a strong rebuke from Lothar Matthaus, who told him he “should know better”, and was duly dragged over the social media coals.
But the real trouble was just beginning. The next day, Klopp was reflecting on the stir he caused: “Fortunately,” he said, “Julian Nagelsmann is still picking the team — for now.”
He then unwisely repeated the “for now” bit and all hell broke loose. Nagelsmann was not under pressure before the tournament, but his popularity has waned since Euro 2024. Germany have not had a convincing two years, either in the Nations League or during World Cup qualifying. And while Klopp has publicly said that his coaching days are over, it’s often speculated that were the national team to have a vacancy, he could be tempted to fill it.
That was the context for what happened next. On Doppelpass, a popular television programme on Sport1, Andreas Moller, the former Borussia Dortmund and national team midfielder, castigated Klopp, calling his comments “completely unacceptable”.
“It’s rather disrespectful. It’s definitely not on! Jurgen Klopp wouldn’t be amused if he was national coach either,” he continued.
Steffen Effenberg, the notoriously gregarious midfielder, never shy in speaking his mind, was equally damning.
“You can make a comment like that over a beer at the bar,” he said, “but not in front of millions of viewers. That’s just wrong.”
The backlash was significant. After the Curacao game, when Nagelsmann had concluded his interview with Magenta, Klopp was keen to apologise, saying that he could have “punched himself in the face” for what he said and that he immediately regretted it.
“But it was already too late and I was on TV,” he said. “It just slipped out so casually and has absolutely no meaning. What I know now is that I’ll be 59 the day after tomorrow and I’m still an idiot. We’re completely on your side. Nothing will be done to disrupt the process.”
Jurgen Klopp apologised to Julian Nagelsmann after his comments (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
Nagelsmann accepted the apology, the two shook hands and the episode — a classic of the German media cycle — came to an end.
But in the background, a highly modern, highly strange saga was building steam; Klopp’s odd World Cup continues.
Among all the voices criticising the newly instituted water breaks at the tournament, his has (seemingly) been the strongest, with media organisations around the world publishing some incredibly punchy quotations bemoaning football’s descent into commercial hell.
“Football is being held hostage by executives in air-conditioned offices. These so-called ‘cooling breaks’ were sold to us as a shield for the players’ well-being, a noble sword against the heat. But in reality? It’s nothing more than a gilded cage built for sponsors.”
They are all over Instagram and X. Figures from within the game — former players and coaches — are using them to support their own grievances. “Well done, Kloppo! Well Said!”
But hang on: Noble sword? Gilded cage? Klopp is a gifted communicator, but hardly prone to floral monologues. While few would argue with the thrust of the comments above and many have jumped on the sentiment, acclaiming Klopp for his willingness to speak truth to FIFA’s power, he said nothing of the sort.
Alas, Klopp is being praised for condemning a change in football that many people dislike. Hilariously, he is also being charged with hypocrisy on account of working for the commercially minded Red Bull network. For something that he did not say. On ZDF, Magenta, or any other German media channel.
“A World Cup match should flow like a river. Instead, we build dams right in the middle so commercials can get through. Football used to be the main event, but now it risks becoming the background music to an advertising show.”
Flow like a river? No, Jurgen Klopp did not say that.
But he is having quite the tournament.
