Mumbai: Through most of the interaction, Oliver Kahn took a few moments to gather his thoughts before answering.
Then came a question about Germany’s performance at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Since winning their fourth world title in 2014, Germany failed to make it out of the group stage in 2018 and 2022 and were eliminated in the Round of 32 this time, losing to Paraguay on penalties.
The former Bayern and Germany goalkeeping great, who was captain at the 2002 World Cup – they lost to Brazil in the final – said: “We must be absolutely clear – in the last three World Cups Germany didn’t play any role at all.”
Germany’s campaign started with a 7-1 win over World Cup debutants Curacao. They struggled in a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Ivory Coast, followed by the 2-1 loss in the last group stage match to Ecuador.
Then came the loss to Paraguay, after being held to a 1-1 draw after extra time.
Germany extended an unwanted run of conceding goals in 10 consecutive World Cup matches – their last clean sheet was the 1-0 win over Argentina in the 2014 final.
It’s been over a fortnight since their World Cup campaign ended. Germany have already begun to pick up the pieces. Head coach Julian Nagelsmann has resigned and Jurgen Klopp is in the frame to take over.
Kahn said that Germany’s problems go deeper than something that can be sorted by changing the coach.
“What happens again and again is that people say, ‘oh, we have to change the coach,’” Kahn, in India as an expert panelist for Zee5, told select media.
“We changed Joachim Low (after the 2018 World Cup – he took the team to the 2014 win), then Hansi Flick (2022) and now Nagelsmann. But changing the coach is not the answer.
“We have to ask one big question: what kind of players do we want to educate and have in 10 years?”
Kahn was in particular unhappy with a lack of responsibility during the shoot-out against Paraguay, which Germany lost 3-4.
“Joshua Kimmich (Germany captain) was trying to find players to shoot in the extension of the shootout,” Kahn recalled. “The German mentality is not saying, ‘oh no, I do not want to shoot.’ The German mentality is to take responsibility for the country.
“That is where we have to ask questions, find new ways and use new solutions.”
In the shootout, Kimmich was seen asking several experienced teammates to step forward to take penalties. When they hesitated, centre back Jonathan Tah, who had never taken a penalty in a competitive match, stepped forward but fired over the crossbar.
“We have a lot of talented players like (Kai) Havertz, (Florian) Wirtz and Jamal Musiala. But do we have guys who will (give their all for the team)? Do we have guys who take responsibility in the right moments?” Kahn asked.
“We have good football education and good coaches, but we have to think about our mentality and how we build the great mentality we need in big tournaments. That is the question. Not who will be the next saviour.”
