“I would never play for Germany again!” Former Germany international voices explosive conspiracy theory

Demirbay never really wanted to play for Germany, he told journalist Yagiz Sabuncuoglu: "I wanted to play for Turkey. We courted the federation for a year and a half. But because of certain things I can't talk about, I had to choose Germany," Demirbay said.

Germany's then head coach Joachim Löw called him up only twice, both in the summer of 2017. Demirbay made his debut in a friendly against Denmark in June and, a few weeks later, joined the squad that won the Confederations Cup in Russia.

Against Cameroon in the third group match, Demirbay made his only appearance and scored the opener in a 3-1 win. He believes what followed changed his international career.

"I took off my shirt and people saw my Turkey tattoo," recalled the now 33-year-old. Born in Herten, Demirbay has the outline of his parents' country of origin tattooed on his shoulder blade, although he did not take off his shirt when celebrating the goal.

Why did Kerem Demirbay not play for Germany at the 2018 World Cup?

He nevertheless believes the tattoo kept him out of the Germany squad thereafter. "That changed the dynamic, in the media too. How can a player play for Germany and have a map of another country tattooed on him? After that, I was never called up again," he claimed. He has still not made peace with it: "You stop calling me up to the national team just when I'm really breaking through? I was regarded as a foreigner. I would never play for Germany again, even if they called me now."

Competition for places in central midfield was fierce, though. Toni Kroos, Ilkay Gündogan, Leon Goretzka and Sami Khedira occupied those positions at the 2018 World Cup.

Demirbay, meanwhile, said he had never really seen himself as German. "My blood is Turkish. My father is Turkish, my mother is Turkish: I am Turkish. My greatest regret will always be never having worn the Turkey national team shirt."

In an interview with SPOX at the start of 2025, however, he struck a different tone: "I stand by all my decisions. But of course I wished I had played for Germany more often. Now that I know what it is like to play in a Turkish stadium, though, and how much the fans spur you on, I might have decided differently with that experience. The emotions I experience here are different and special in a whole other way," he said at the time.

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After years as a key midfield figure for Bayer Leverkusen and Hoffenheim, and another two years at Galatasaray, Demirbay now plays for Kasimpasa. He is a regular for the side sitting seventh in the Süper Lig table and recently registered his first goal involvement of the season in a 4-1 win over Samsunspor.