Halis Sunnetci
02 October 2026•Update: 02 October 2026
Germany head coach Jurgen Klopp on Wednesday dismissed claims that the national football team is "not white enough" as "complete nonsense" after far-right politicians criticized the racial composition of his squad.
Klopp was asked at a press conference ahead of Germany's UEFA Nations League match against Serbia about comments on social media questioning whether his team was "not German enough" or "not white enough."
He dismissed the claims as "complete nonsense."
"There is absolutely no reason to pay attention to these people," Klopp said. "You won't get my thoughts on this. I have little time in everyday life for idiocy -- and even less on social media."
The debate followed Germany's shocking loss to Greece in Augsburg, when Klopp suffered his first home defeat as the national team coach.
Several politicians from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party subsequently criticized the number of non-white players representing Germany.
AfD lawmaker Kay Gottschalk shared on social media side-by-side images comparing West Germany's all-white team from the 1990 World Cup final with the Germany side Klopp selected against Greece, which included eight non-white players in the starting lineup.
"Character traits, certain virtues, and team spirit are cultural values that develop over centuries and are shaped by shared historical experiences," Gottschalk wrote.
Klopp said the Germany squad's unity showed how people from different backgrounds could coexist.
"The group we have here together couldn't be better in terms of how they get along," he said.
"The world could learn a thing or two from a sports dressing room. Everyone is respected based on the actual facts, not discredited because of misguided opinions."
Previous racism controversies
Germany's national team players with immigrant backgrounds have previously faced racist comments and controversy over their identities.
In 2018, Mesut Ozil, who was born in Germany to a family of Turkish origin and helped the country win the 2014 World Cup, retired from international football, citing "racism and disrespect."
"I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose," he said at the time.
Two years earlier, then-AfD deputy leader Alexander Gauland drew widespread criticism after being quoted as saying Germans liked Germany defender Jerome Boateng as a footballer but would not want him as a neighbor.
Boateng, whose father is Ghanaian, was part of Germany's 2014 World Cup-winning team.
