Germany have confirmed Hansi Flick will stay on as a manager until after Euro 2024, despite their disappointing World Cup campaign.
The Germans crashed out of the tournament in Qatar at the first hurdle after suffering a surprise defeat to Japan and failing to beat Spain. They did record a 4-2 win against Costa Rica in their final group match, yet that wasn't enough to reach the knockout stages.
Flick, who was Germany's assistant manager when they won the World Cup in 2014, is determined to lead his country into the next Euros. That tournament will be held in Germany, with Flick's contract due to expire after the final in Berlin on July 14, 2024.
"My coaching staff and I are optimistic about the European Championship in our own country," said Flick on Wednesday. "As a team, we can achieve a lot more than we showed in Qatar. We missed a great opportunity there. We will learn our lessons from that.
"I have faith in the joint path agreed today with Bernd Neuendorf [German FA president] and Aki Watzke [vice-president]. We all want the whole of Germany to gather behind the national team again at the home European Championship in 2024."
Germany have struggled since their 1-0 triumph against Argentina in the 2014 World Cup final. Although they won the Confederations Cup in 2017, they crashed out of the 2018 World Cup in Russia during the group stage and repeated the trick in Qatar.
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Germany were knocked out of the ongoing World Cup after Japan defeated Spain 2-1 in their final group game. Japan's winner was controversial, as the ball appeared to go out of play in the build-up. FIFA have confirmed a fraction of the ball remained in play.
In terms of European competitions, Germany were knocked out of Euro 2020 by England in the last 16 after a under-par showing during the group stage. Flick's side have also failed to reach the finals of the Nations League in any of the three editions to date.
The German FA have responded to Germany's poor form by sacking technical director Oliver Bierhoff. Neuendorf added: "We are all convinced that the 2024 European Championship in our own country represents a great opportunity for football in Germany.
"Our goal is to make this tournament a sporting success. We have full confidence in Hansi Flick that he will master this challenge together with his team. With regard to Oliver Bierhoff’s successor, we have agreed that we will first discuss the future structure of this area of responsibility within the DFB and then make a personnel decision."
Flick remains an impressive manager, despite Germany's woes. He has more than 20 years' worth of coaching experience under his belt and was named the Men's Coach of the Year by UEFA in 2020 after guiding Bayern Munich to six trophies that calendar year.
Flick was appointed by Germany in August 2021 and has a decent record. He's won 11 of his 19 games in charge, losing just twice. Flick will forever be remembered for being former Germany boss Joachim Low's assistant between 2006 and 2014.
