Germany loses its captain: Ilkay Gundogan announced his farewell from the national team on Instagram. At 33 years old, he will now focus solely on his club. His last match was against Spain at Euro 2024, which ended in a 2-1 loss. “After several weeks of reflection, I have come to the decision that it is time to end my national team career,” Gundogan wrote, “I look back with great pride on the 82 international matches, a number I could never have imagined when I debuted for the senior national team in 2011. My greatest moment was clearly the immense honor of having captained the team at last summer’s home European Championships! After all these years, we finally managed to make our Nation proud again, and the fact that I could play a role in this makes me very happy.”
“I feel tired in my body and mind”
“But even before the tournament, I felt a certain tiredness in my body and in my head, and this made me reflect: the matches at both club and national level do not decrease. I will certainly continue to be a supporter of this national team and I sincerely hope that the upward trend can continue (there’s nothing wrong with being among the favorites for the title at the 2026 World Cup). We have a fantastic coach, a really strong team, and a great team spirit,” Gundogan concluded.