Germany coach Nagelsmann names Joshua Kimmich as new captain

Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann announced Monday that Bayern Munich's veteran defender, Joshua Kimmich, would be the national team's new captain  starting with Saturday's Nations League match against Hungary in Düsseldorf. Germany will also face the Netherlands in Amsterdam on Tuesday, in the second match of the new Nations League campaign.

In addition to Kimmich, Nagelsmann named Antonio Rüdiger and Kai Havertz as alternate captains.

"Josh was one of the three captains at the European Championship, so it's logical that if the others aren't there, it's logical that he's the [leading] candidate," the Germany coach told a press conference at the national team's base in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria.

"Kimmich is someone "who always goes full throttle, sometimes too much. Someone who always wants to win.”

Worst-kept secret

The choice of Kimmich may have been the German sporting world's worst-kept secret since previous captain Ilkay Gündogan announced last month that he was retiring from the national team.

"I'd be surprised if it wasn't Kimmich," Lothar Matthäus, Germany's 1990 World Cup-winning-captain, said on Sky TV on Sunday.

"He has the most international caps [91]. He also has the ambition. He has the experience."

Nagelsmann's move was not a surprise to the new captain himself, who was not at the press conference.

"I was deputy captain at the European Championship. Ilkay has now retired, so the roles are being redistributed, the cards have been reshuffled," Kimmich said after Bayern's 2-0 win over Freiburg on Saturday.

Wealth of international experience

On the current team, Kimmich is by far the most experienced player, followed by Rüdiger (74 appearances), Havertz (51) and Marc-André ter Stegen (40).

Kimmich had already been one of the acknowledged leaders in the Germany dressing room even without the captain's armband. The role is not completely new to him, as he has often stepped in as captain when another player was injured or otherwise unavailable.

Now one of his key tasks will be helping Nagelsmann guide the Nationalmannschaft into a new era, following the retirement of longtime stalwarts Toni Kroos, Gündogan, Manuel Neuer and Thomas Müller.

Kimmich made his debut for the national team in a 3-1 loss to Slovakia on May 29, 2016, and was part of then-coach Joachim Löw's squad at Euro 2016 in France. Since then, he has played with the Germany squad at all major tournaments, including the disappointing World Cups in 2018 and 2022. He also took part in the recent 2024 Euros in Germany, where the hosts played a strong tournament but lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual champions, Spain.

Ter Stegen confirmed as new No. 1

In another widely expected move, Nagelsmann also used the press conference to confirm that ter Stegen, Barcelona's goalkeeper and longtime second choice for the national team, would be Germany's new No. 1 following Neuer's retirement from international football.

Edited by: Kyle McKinnon