The list of players missing the 2026 World Cup has Ilkay Gündogan, who isn’t going to represent Germany. There are many players with huge talent competing at the 2026 World Cup. However, Germany will not have a midfielder like İlkay Gündoğan present in their team for this edition.
The reason behind Gündoğan’s absence in Germany is simple: he retired from the national team. At Euro 2024, when his country hosted the tournament, many players said goodbye, with the loss to Spain in the quarterfinals being their final match. About his retirement, the player wrote a message on social media.
Gündoğan said: “I look back with great pride on 82 caps for my home country, a number I could never have dreamed of. My highlight was definitely the huge honor of captaining the team at our home European Championship 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.”
Gündoğan’s career with Germany
While the trophy case with Germany does not look very full, his career has been fantastic. Gündoğan displayed all his qualities from the first match he played for his country in 2011.
Gündogan was honored next to Müller and Neuer (Maja Hitij/Getty Images for VW)
A very common theme in his career has been the unlucky number of injuries he has endured, which may be one reason why he never lifted a major honor with Germany, as a back issue kept him out in 2014.
While the creative midfielder was part of the teams in Russia and Qatar that were eliminated in the group stage, Gündoğan finished his time representing Germany with a respectable 82 matches, in which he scored 19 goals, an impressive total for someone in his position.
Gündoğan’s club career
Gündoğan has been playing for Galatasaray since last year, but he has also featured for some of the best clubs in the world. After spells at Bochum, 1. FC Nürnberg, and a great run at Borussia Dortmund, where he won the Bundesliga, the midfielder moved to the Premier League. At Manchester City, he enjoyed his best years, including a Champions League title, the first in the club’s history, and 304 matches in that shirt. He then spent a year at Barcelona before returning to Manchester City for one more season. His club career currently stands at 660 matches.