Hummels says why he thinks he was snubbed from Germany's Euro squad (2024)

Mats Hummels has spoken out on his snub from Germany's European Championship squad and has revealed that his conversations with head coach Julian Naglesmann barely lasted two minutes.

It's been two weeks since Naglesmann announced his preliminary 27-man squad for this summer's tournament in Germany. The squad includes four goalkeepers and 23 outfield players, but the biggest controversy was the omission of 2014 World Cup winner Hummels.

The Borussia Dortmund defender, 35, has been in excellent form this season, but was notably left disappointed following his Euros snub.

According to his manager Edin Terzic, Hummels will now put his focus into helping Dortmund beat Real Madrid in the Champions League final on Saturday.

'He [Hummels] told me now we will do everything we can to reach our big goal, the Champions League," Terzic said, per Reuters. 'He would have absolutely deserved it to be at the Euros. But it is not our decision.

The veteran defender has won 78 caps for his national side, with Naglesmann recalling him to the squad in October 2023, after he had not played for Germany since their defeat by England at the 2021 European Championships.

Hummels went on to make two appearances, playing in international friendlies against USA and Austria, but did not feature in their most recent wins against France and the Netherlands.

Speaking for the first time since his Euros snub, the 35-year-old told Sport BILD that his conversation with Naglesmann, where he was told he would not be included in the squad, was 'short and disappointing'.

He added: 'Not even two minutes. I just had to leave for training. But in moments like that I don't need a long conversation or a big explanation. That was enough for me.'

The outlet claims that Hummels had already told Naglesmann that he would be happy to sit on the bench for the tournament. But despite helping guide Borussia Dortmund to the Champions League final this season, the central defender gave his verdict on why the manager left him out of his squad.

'If I understood him correctly, he was concerned with other things than accepting a joker role. As I understood it, it was more about age-related things like fitness.'

Instead, Naglesmann has opted to take Bayer Leverkusen's Jonathan Tah and Real Madrid's Antonio Rudiger, who will likely be his first choice centre backs. Central defenders Waldemar Anton of Stuttgart, Nico Schlotterbeck of Dortmund and Robin Koch of Frankfurt, were also included.

'I can understand the idea that a group should have grown since March,' Hummels added to Sport BILD.'For me as an individual, that's bitter because I'm currently one of the five best defenders in Germany, and I have that confidence. If I'd had the phase I had before the nomination in March, I might have been there - and now part of the European Championship squad.'

'It's never about nominating the best 26 players. In a tournament, it's always about players who don't play a minute being extremely happy to be there at all. As a coach, I would do something similar.'

He added that several of his colleagues at Dortmund had also stated that he should have been picked in the squad.

Hummels made his senior international debut for Germany back in May 2010 during a 3-0 victory against Malta.

He'd go on to help Die Manschaft reach the semi-finals of Euro 2012 and Euro 2016, before scoring twice in their successful World Cup campaign in 2014.

He was omitted from their 2022 World Cup campaign, which saw Hansi Flick's Germany side fail to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition.

Champions LeagueEuro 2024Edin Terzic