Florian Wirtz's World Cup has ended in embarrassing exit for Germany, and after a disappointing first season at Liverpool, all eyes will be on him heading into next season
04:00, 01 Jul 2026
Florian Wirtz of Germany gestures during the Round Of 32 - FIFA World Cup 2026 match between Germany and Paraguay at Boston Stadium on June 29, 2026 in Foxborough, United States. (Photo by GSI/Icon Sport via Getty Images) - Photo by Icon Sport
Florian Wirtz will be returning to Liverpool much earlier than he had hoped(Image: Getty Images)
What a difference a year can make. Just a little over 12 months ago, Florian Wirtz was unveiled as Liverpool’s new record signing, and the hype could not have been bigger.
The Reds had just beaten Manchester City and Bayern Munich to the signing of perhaps Germany’s biggest star, and fresh from winning the title, this was seen by many as a sign that no one would be able to stop Liverpool’s charge to another Premier League crown.
Of course, it didn’t pan out that way. Liverpool stumbled, Arne Slot was fired after barely scraping Champions League qualification, and now, the Wirtz hype train has very much slowed to a near halt.
A mixed first season is understandable for a player still in his early 20s. Making his first move away from Germany, it was always going to take time for Wirtz to adapt to the Premier League.
What is more worrying for some is that his struggles aren’t showing any immediate sign of easing, and now his country’s embarrassing exit from the World Cup has done nothing to silence his critics.
In fairness to Wirtz, no one covered themselves in glory from a German point of view. In fact, he perhaps did more than most of his teammates to keep his nation in the tournament, having created Kai Havertz’s equalizer against Paraguay.
For a potentially $154 million player though, more was expected from some.
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - JUNE 29: Florian Wirtz of Germany reacts during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round Of 32 match between Germany and Paraguay at Boston Stadium on June 29, 2026 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
Florian Wirtz and Germany are out of the World Cup(Image: Getty Images)
“Wirtz has had a terrible season at Liverpool, he hasn't performed again at this World Cup,” Alan Shearer rather bluntly stated after Germany’s exit from the tournament.
"So it's alright saying they've got the quality, but the quality wasn't there. We've seen them put seven past Curacao, well that's alright - but when it really mattered, the quality wasn't there at all."
As harsh as that might sound from Shearer, it does unfortunately ring true with a lot of Liverpool fans when it comes to Wirtz.
We saw glimpses of the quality he possesses last season, but only ever in games you’d fully expect him to have a field day anyway. He stood out against the likes of Eintracht Frankfurt, Wolves and Sunderland, but not against the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City or Manchester United. Perhaps the biggest opposition he really showed up against was Newcastle.
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The World Cup was a real chance for him to send a reminder of his quality, but while he claimed three assists, he isn’t going to shake the tag that is going to follow all of Germany’s players now - that this was a failure.
All eyes will be on him now at Liverpool next season. He’s had a full season in the Premier League, he has a new head coach who should suit his style, and he will be expected to be the main creative influence following Mohamed Salah’s exit - there really is nowhere to hide now for Wirtz.
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And that is perhaps Andoni Iraola’s biggest challenge upon taking the job at Anfield. Liverpool spent big and put a lot of faith into Wirtz last summer, but Slot couldn’t get the best out of him, and neither could Julian Nagelsmann by the looks of it.
Iraola has to extract something from Wirtz that they couldn’t, but it’s also up to the player to respond. Liverpool scraped by with him not making his mark in the big games last season - he has to change that now.