Manuel Neuer can’t say for sure if Jonas Urbig will be his Germany successor

Nairavoice | Jun 22, 2026 1h ago 113 0 3 min read

Manuel Neuer can’t say for sure if Jonas Urbig will be his Germany successor

There’s a natural inclination at Bayern Munich that keeper Jonas Urbig will eventually become the club’s number one keeper once Manuel Neuer‘s days with the German Rekordmeister are over. Neuer’s recently signed a one-year contract extension with Bayern, but the understanding for the 2026/27 season is that the veteran keeper will take on more of a mentor-type role as Urbig starts to get more minutes than he has in his two previous seasons at Bayern ever since joining from FC Köln.

As far as the German national team is concerned, there are a lot of moving parts. No one really expected Neuer to be recalled to the squad by Julian Nagelsmann for the World Cup until rumors started swirling around a few months ago that him coming out of international retirement was a realistic possibility. Fast forward to now, and Neuer was in between the sticks for Germany‘s group stage wins over Curaçao in Houston, Texas and Côte d’Ivoire in Toronto, Canada. Die Mannschaft also clinched their place in the knockout stages and won group E with Curaçao’s 0-0 draw with Ecuador in Kansas City.

In the months heading into Nagelsmann getting set to announce his Germany squad for the World Cup, Hoffneheim’s Oliver Baumann was under the impression that he’d be on the squad as the number one keeper, but that changed and he was ultimately brought as Neuer’s backup. Alexander Nübel was also called up and Urbig was brought with the squad just to be a “training keeper.”

For Urbig, there’s a chance to follow the same path he’s following at Bayern with the national team, but he will certainly face competition to become Germany’s number one. Neuer has faith that his understudy can one day take the reigns for the national team, but he also knows it’s not a given.

“He’s on a very good path and has it all in his own hands. But I also have to say that my other colleagues are doing very well at their clubs. I have respect for all our goalkeepers,” Neuer said ahead of Germany’s 2-1 win over Côte d’Ivoire.

For Urbig, after the World Cup when Neuer’s time with Germany is done for good, he’ll still be competing against Baumann, Nübel, and even Marc-André ter Stegen when he’s fully fit and healthy. Nagelsmann has the luxury of a number of options to choose from, but it will be up to Urbig to perform to a level consistently to be in the Germany squads between the end of the World Cup and Euro 2028.