Former Germany goalkeeper and captain Oliver Kahn has said that developing an identity and playing style will be crucial for Germany to improve its dismal recent fortunes at the FIFA World Cup.
Germany made it out of the group stage for the first time since its victorious 2014 campaign in the 2026 edition of the tournament, but fell at the first hurdle by suffering a penalty shootout defeat to Paraguay in the Round of 32.
Manager Julian Nagelsmann stepped down in the aftermath of the result, and legendary ex-Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has been strongly linked with the vacancy.
However, Kahn – who is an expert on the post-match panel for Indian audiences during the tournament – suggested that more than the identity of its next manager, Germany’s focus should be on finding the best possible philosophy to move forward.
“I think that developing your own philosophy is the most important part of not only national teams, but also club teams, to develop your own identity and stick to it,” he said.
“The big question in Germany for me is not who will be the next coach. Maybe it will be Jürgen Klopp. But for me, the most important question is what kind of football or what kind of players do we want to educate over the next 10 years? We have talented players, like Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz, Kai Havertz, all good footballers. But that’s not enough, you know, because we are talking about responsibility.
“We are talking about the right mentality. We are talking about how you can handle pressure situations in the tournament, and that is the most important thing,” he said.
Kahn focussed on the need to have the ability to handle pressure situations, saying, “We can talk about talent, about tactical things, we can talk about so much in football.
“Yes, everything is important, but the most important thing is are you able to take responsibility in the deciding moment of a World Cup, in a penalty shootout. That, for me, is the important question in Germany, and there we have to find an answer to come back again.”
He highlighted the example of Spain, which has qualified for the final with an evolved version of its famed tiki-taka style of football under manager Luis de la Fuente.
“I think the best example of how you can develop something like this is Spain. We all remember Spain playing the tiki-taka style 10 years ago, which they were playing for its own sake,” he said.
“They had no verticality in their game, and I think De La Fuente has changed that. He didn’t change everything. He still sticks to the basic philosophy of Spain’s football, but then he integrates more verticality more attacking. But the identity of Spain playing football, the ball possession play is still as it was 15 years ago.”
(The interaction was organised by Zee5, the official broadcaster of the FIFA World Cup 2026 in India.)
Published on Jul 16, 2026
