OFFICIAL: 33-year-old Ilkay Gundogan retires from Germany national team 🇩🇪

Ilkay Gundogan has announced his retirement of Germany national team on his X account.

"Dear soccer fans of Germany,

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

I can look back with great pride on 82 caps 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 honor of captaining the team at our home European Championships last summer! After all those 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, but also in my head, which made me think. 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 very much hope that together we can continue the upward trend - and then there's no reason why we shouldn't be among 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.

Thank you to all the fans, staff, coaches and players who have accompanied me on this journey.

It has been an honor!

Thank you, Germany! 🇩🇪

Your Ilkay"