Manuel Neuer has confirmed he will retire from international football for the second time once the World Cup concludes, describing the tournament as an “absolute present” at the age of 40.
The Germany goalkeeper, who won the World Cup in 2014 and is appearing in his fifth consecutive edition of the tournament, stepped away from international duty following Germany’s Euro 2024 quarter-final exit on home soil. His return came as a surprise when coach Julian Nagelsmann recalled him on the back of a strong second half of the season at Bayern Munich, with Neuer coming in ahead of Oliver Baumann, who had previously been named as first choice for the tournament.
“I stepped back in 2024 with a good reason after a good home Euro. For me it was the right decision. It felt right,” Neuer said at a press conference on Thursday. “It would have been too much of a sporting burden for me to have kept playing for the national team for the last two years.”
He made his return in Germany’s 7-1 opening Group E thrashing of Curacao and will be in goal again on Saturday when they face Ivory Coast. A win would put Germany through to the knockout stage with one group game remaining — a timely boost for a side that suffered first-round exits at both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
“This is our goal. We have everything in our own hands. We don’t want to look back at past World Cups,” Neuer said. “We look at the next step and the next step is Ivory Coast. To qualify after the second game would be special and would allow us to look a bit further ahead.”
On his relationship with Baumann, Neuer was diplomatic. “We work together with Oliver. We support each other and train for the team. After coming together we discussed things and talked about how it came about with my return.”
Neuer was clear that his farewell is final this time. “I do not plan to be there in two years’ time for the next Euro. In the last days I have dealt with the fact that these are the last games for Germany. But I want to look forward to all the games and not to any goodbye shirts.”
A second World Cup winners’ medal would make him the only Germany player to have lifted the trophy twice, but Neuer kept expectations measured. “It would be very special to do it a second time but if I did not see the chance that we could do it, I would not be sitting here.”
