Matthias Ginter has opened up in a detailed interview with kicker about missing out on the 2026 World Cup in North America. The centre-back describes what were probably the toughest hours of his professional career and makes it clear he has serious doubts about how former Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann handled the situation.
Back in May, the Freiburg man suffered two major blows in quick succession. On Wednesday evening, he lost the first European final in the club's history with Sport-Club in Istanbul, beaten 3-0 by Aston Villa. Just half a day later came the final news on the World Cup.
How did Matthias Ginter find out about his World Cup omission?
"It was a double blow. I think another 12 or 13 hours later came the message about the World Cup too, that I wasn't going", he told kicker: "They were not two separate disappointments, but one big one. That was of course among the bitterest moments of my career. Such a double blow at the end of a very, very special season."
Missing out on the tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico hit Ginter hard after his consistent performances in the Bundesliga. Shortly after the decision, he had already made his disappointment clear at the fan reception in Freiburg, saying: "I couldn't have done any more."
There, Freiburg fans loudly booed Julian Nagelsmann for leaving out the defender.
What does Ginter accuse former Germany head coach Nagelsmann of?
During the kicker interview, Ginter doubled down on his criticism of Nagelsmann, especially over how he was treated more broadly. "I don't want to talk about the way it all generally went over the three years," explained the 32-year-old, who was part of Germany's World Cup-winning squad in Brazil in 2014 without making an appearance. Ginter then pointed to the process before the squad announcement: "The timing had actually been planned differently, especially with all the leaks published beforehand, but I was only informed on Thursday, the day of the nomination."
Still, he said the full weight of the double disappointment only sank in later: "It only really hit me with the opening game of the World Cup – and because it was a package, the disappointment about the lost final came back too."