Even before the embarrassing round-of-32 exit against Paraguay, football Germany had been embroiled in quite a few heated debates in recent weeks. Sometimes it was about Deniz Undav, sometimes about Leroy Sané, sometimes about Julian Nagelsmann, and sometimes about all of them together.
There was relatively little debate about Joshua Kimmich. Of course, the question of whether the captain should play at right-back or in central midfield was certainly discussed. But that was about it.
A few years ago, Kimmich had a significantly worse reputation in Germany. Time and again, he was accused of his openly displayed ambition and passion being little more than a façade. The Süddeutsche Zeitung once even described Kimmich as a "mentality actor."
That kind of criticism seemed to die down more and more in recent years. Under coach Vincent Kompany, Kimmich truly flourished as the conductor of Bayern's midfield, and since 2024 he has also been the undisputed leader of the German national team.
But after the DFB team's latest World Cup humiliation, Kimmich has suddenly found himself back at the center of public debate. Quite a few observers accuse the 31-year-old of having failed as captain and disappointed on the pitch – once again.