Klopp has won one of his four games as Germany coach, and he needs another in Belgrade to stay in the Nations League race
Germany are three points off the top two in Nations League Group A2 with two games left. They play Serbia in Belgrade on Friday, with Kimmich back in the squad.
Nov 13, 2026
Jürgen Klopp has taken charge of Germany four times and won once, 2-0 against Serbia in October. He meets Serbia again in Belgrade on Friday, and this time Germany cannot afford anything less than a win. Kick-off at the Rajko Mitić Stadium is 8:45pm local time, which is 1:15am IST on Saturday.
Where Group A2 stands
Germany are third in Nations League Group A2 on five points, three behind both the Netherlands and Greece. Only the top two reach the quarter-finals. The Netherlands and Greece play each other at the same time on Friday, and Germany host the Netherlands in Berlin on Monday to finish the group.
Serbia have lost all four of their games and are out of the running. Veljko Paunović will also be without Dušan Vlahović, Strahinja Pavlović and Aleksa Terzić.
One win, two draws and a defeat
Klopp replaced Julian Nagelsmann in the summer, after Paraguay knocked Germany out of the World Cup on penalties in the round of 32. That made it three early World Cup exits in a row, after group-stage eliminations in 2018 and 2022.
His own start has been patchy. Germany drew 1-1 with the Netherlands in his first game and then lost 1-0 to Greece in Augsburg, his first home match. The win over Serbia came next, and then a goalless draw in Greece.
Klopp is tired of the Kimmich question
Joshua Kimmich started the first two games but played no part in the win over Serbia or the draw in Greece. Tom Bischof and Aleksandar Pavlović, both from Bayern Munich, started in midfield instead and did well. Kimmich is back in the squad now, and Klopp has heard enough about what that means.
“That’s the narrative that gets created: What does this mean for Joshua Kimmich? It means nothing,” he said in Belgrade. “Tom and Aleks had a great game, and Kimmich wasn’t there.”
“We just need to make that visible”
Klopp, 59, has asked for time. “I have a super positive outlook on this team. To be honest, we have a very good mix,” he said. He insisted he was not “naive or wide-eyed” about it. “We’re genuinely very good… we just need to make that visible.”
Florian Wirtz is the player most likely to make it visible on Friday. He scored his first Premier League goal of the season for Liverpool at Crystal Palace on Sunday, and Klopp says he is “in top condition”. “He can be an immense help to us,” the coach said.