Jurgen Klopp walks out of an interview during the Bastian Schweinsteiger racism debate at the World Cup.
Jurgen Klopp made his feelings very clear when he walked out of an interview after being asked about some controversial comments by Bastian Schweinsteiger.
On Thursday evening, Germany will play Ecuador at the New York New Jersey Stadium in their last game of the 2026 World Cup group stage. After winning against Curaçao and Ivory Coast, Julian Nagelsmann’s team has already secured the top spot in Group E.
After Germany’s 2-1 win over Ivory Coast, the talk in Germany wasn’t just about the game. Instead, many focused on comments Schweinsteiger made while analyzing the match for German broadcaster ARD. The former Manchester United and Bayern Munich player said that Ivory Coast played “African football,” which he described as sometimes “a bit unorthodox, a bit wild, not quite as tactical.”
These remarks were met with disappointment in Germany. When a reporter from German outlet DW Sports asked Klopp about Schweinsteiger’s comments during an interview about Germany’s World Cup performances, Klopp made it very clear he didn’t want to talk about it.
“And now you want to keep talking about this?” Klopp said, clearly frustrated. “No, no – I can’t answer that. Everyone likes this topic, so you put me in a tough spot. It’s a serious issue, and I don’t even know what’s the right thing to say. For African people, it means one thing, for others, it means something else. I’m not here for that.”
Klopp also said he was glad no one had asked him about it earlier but seemed surprised and a bit disappointed when he found out it was a German reporter who brought it up.
“Thank God, I thought nobody would ask me, but you found a chance and surprise, you are German. That surprised me a lot,” he added.
Many in the German media have spoken out against Schweinsteiger’s words. Journalist Philipp Awounou called the comments “problematic,” explaining that terms like “wild” and “unpredictable” are old stereotypes with racist and colonial roots. He said these descriptions have historically been used to unfairly label Black people of African heritage as uncivilized or dangerous.
However, Awounou also made it clear that Schweinsteiger himself is not a racist, saying, “Despite his problematic remarks, Schweinsteiger is definitely not a racist and shouldn’t be called that.”
This isn’t the first time Klopp has been involved in controversy during the World Cup. After the Netherlands’ surprising 2-2 draw with Japan, he criticized Rafael van der Vaart for negative comments about Liverpool’s captain Virgil van Dijk, comparing his movement to a “Boeing 747.”
“I’m not sure if it’s even worth mentioning Rafael van der Vaart,” Klopp said on German TV. “But if he ever says something good about a player, I’ll take him seriously again. It feels like he sees something but then has to say it in a fancy way, only to criticize it afterwards. But honestly, it’s not that important.”