Alexandra Popp will end her career in the national team. The DFB announced this on Monday afternoon.
Captain Alexandra Popp is ending her career in the German national team. As the DFB announced on Monday, the 33-year-old is stepping down and will not take part in next year’s European Championships. The “Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung” and the NDR had previously reported on it.
For the VfL Wolfsburg striker, who scored 67 goals in 144 international matches, the 1-0 win in the small final against Spain at the Olympic Games this summer was the last game of her impressive international career. The DFB team won bronze at the tournament in France. On October 28th she will be on the pitch for Germany one last time against Australia in Duisburg. She also played her first international match in Duisburg on February 17, 2010.
“I actually always say that I was born in the middle circle. When I think about what it was like, I still get goosebumps,” Popp reflects on her DFB career in a video accompanied by pathetic strings.
Popp herself also published a video on Instagram in which she explained her decision. “After long, tearful deliberations, it was with a heavy heart that I decided to end my national team career. The fire that ignited in me 18 years ago and grew stronger every year has now almost burned out,” it says in her statement in which she thanked her long-time companions.
After winning Olympic bronze in Paris, Popp’s VfL colleagues Merle Frohms (29) and Marina Hegering (34) had already left the national team. Popp became Olympic champion with the DFB team in 2016 and vice-European champion in 2022.
Popp, whose contract in Wolfsburg expires at the end of the season, has recently had to repeatedly struggle with various injuries. She recently left her future in the DFB selection open. It could “go in all directions,” she told the sports information service. She needs “a little more time” to make her decision.
The national team will play the next test matches at the end of October. On October 25th we will face England in London, and three days later the DFB women will host Australia. The game in the English capital is also the debut for Christian Wück as the new national coach. He will also look after the DFB women at the upcoming European Championships in Switzerland.
