News (engl.)

World Cup winner Mats Hummels will retire in the summer. The 36-year-old, who currently plays for Italian club AS Roma, announced on Friday that he is set to end a successful career at the conclusion of the season. Hummels won a total of five Bundesliga titles across spells with hometown club FC Bayern München and Borussia Dortmund, along with three DFB-Pokals. He was also part of the Germany squad to clinch 2014 World Cup glory in Brazil.

Hummels, who also part of the triumphant Germany team at the European U21 Championship in Sweden in 2009, celebrated his senior international debut on 13th May 2010 in a 3-0 win over Malta in Aachen under former national team coach Joachim Löw. He was subsequently called up for all major tournaments from 2012 onwards, up to and including EURO 2020. In both 2012 and 2016, he and Germany reached the semi-final stage of the European Championship before the national side failed to make it out of their group at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. 2020 saw Germany eliminated in the European Championship round of 16. Mats Hummels scored a total of five goals across 78 international appearances, including the sole strike in a 1-0 victory over France at the quarter-final stage of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Hummels had already netted the second in the 4-0 victory over Portugal to kick off Germany’s World Cup campaign. Hummels pulled on the Germany shirt for the final time on 21st November 2023 in Vienna under current national team head coach Julian Nagelsmann.

Nagelsmann: "Mats was a great servant to the national side"

DFB president Bernd Neuendorf: “In Mats Hummels, we see another of our World Cup winners from 2014 and U21 European champions from 2009 retire. Mats Hummels was a real leader for the national side, burdening a great deal of responsibility off the pitch as well. We are very grateful to him for all that which he gave German football, with the 2014 World Cup success being his crowning achievement.”

National team head coach Julian Nagelsmann: “There were not many better than Mats Hummels in his prime and he became a role model for an entire generation of defenders. He was not only an outstanding centre-back for the national team but he also interpreted the position in a modern, revolutionary way. You could always tell what it meant to him to play for Germany. Many players benefitted from the experience and tactical understanding he brought to the pitch. Mats was a key component in the 2014 World Cup winning squad – he was a great servant to the national side.”

DFB sporting director Rudi Völler: “Mats Hummels was one of the defining characters during a successful period for the national team and the DFB. His leadership played a key role in these successes, but he also became someone people could identify with off the pitch as well. He helped shape the clubs that he played for during his prestigious career, rounding things off at a major club in the best city in the world.”