Marc-André ter Stegen has to cope with another injury shock. Lothar Matthäus has a bad premonition regarding the World Cup.
Bad luck has followed Marc-André ter Stegen all the way to Girona. The German national goalkeeper has suffered a thigh injury and could be out for a longer period. According to Spanish media, he faces a layoff of up to two months, which would be a huge setback for his World Cup ambitions.
“If that is confirmed, it will be the end of March before he can play again. Then he will probably have to write off his World Cup participation,” record national player Lothar Matthäus described his fears in ter Stegen’s case on Sky .
Lothar Matthäus suffers with the injured Marc-André ter Stegen
“That would be a personal tragedy and I feel very sorry for him,” Matthäus expressed his sympathy for ter Stegen.
The goalkeeper had decided to go on loan to Girona to secure the necessary match practice and position himself in the duel with the current number one in the DFB goal, Oliver Baumann. Now the 33-year-old has to take a break again after only two appearances. Time to get into top form for the World Cup is running out.
Will ter Stegen miss the national team’s test matches?
On March 27th and 30th, the German national team has two important test matches against Switzerland and Ghana. Should Stegen miss these games, it would be extremely difficult to go to the World Cup as the number one.
However, according to information from Mundo Deportivo , it is clear that ter Stegen will remain with Girona until the summer despite the injury and will not return to FC Barcelona prematurely. For ter Stegen, this at least means that he has the prospect of match practice again after his injury.
This is what he lacked most with only twelve club appearances in the last year and a half. The veteran played the last of his 44 international matches in June 2025 as part of the Nations League before being sidelined from July to December due to a back injury.