İlkay Gündoğan announces Germany international retirement | OneFootball

İlkay Gündoğan has announced his retirement from Germany international duty.

The national team captain took to social media to confirm the news on what has been a very busy day for the 33-year-old, with his exit from Barcelona reportedly imminent and a potential return to Manchester City on the cards.

“Dear football Germany,

After a few weeks of consideration, I have come to the conclusion that it is time to end my national team career.

I look back with great pride on 82 international matches for my home country – a number I could never have dreamed of when I made my debut for the senior national team in 2011.

My highlight was definitely the huge honour of being able to lead the team as captain at our home European Championships last summer! After all these years, we finally managed to make the nation proud again – I’m very happy that I was able to play a part in that.

But even before the tournament, I felt a certain tiredness in my body and also in my head, which got me thinking. And the games at club and national level are not getting any less.

I will definitely continue to be a fan of this national team and I really hope that we can continue the upward trend together – and then there is nothing to stop us from being one of the closest contenders for the title at the 2026 World Cup. We have a fantastic coach, a really strong team and a great team spirit.

Thanks to all the fans, staff, coaches and teammates who have accompanied me on this journey.

It was an honor!

Thank you, Germany!

Your Ilkay”

As mentioned, Gündoğan made 82 appearances for his country, scoring 19 times and captaining them at EURO 2024. He sadly missed out on the 2014 World Cup win with a serious knee injury, meaning he departs the international game without a trophy to his name.