‘Especially Tough’—Marc-Andre ter Stegen Issues Heart-Wrenching Statement After Latest Injury

The Barcelona goalkeeper had played just two games since joining Girona on loan.

Opportunity ripped away from Marc-André ter Stegen. | Bruno Penas/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images

Marc-André ter Stegen said “the worst happened” when reflecting on the hamstring injury that has taken away his “greatest joy” and risked his chance of going to the 2026 World Cup with Germany.

Just two games into his Girona loan, having been displaced at Barcelona and then spending the first half of the season recovering from back surgery, Ter Stegen suffered a hamstring problem that will require him to go under the knife again. There is no certain timeframe, but estimates are up to four months out, leaving him almost certain not to be picked by Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann.

After a nightmarish summer that saw him on the brink of war with Barcelona and briefly stripped of the captaincy, Girona was supposed to be the goalkeeper’s opportunity to reset.

Even without the World Cup carrot on the horizon, it’s a hugely frustrating blow for Ter Stegen to have everything taken away from him all over again.

“Most of you don’t know me on a personal level, so I want to share something with you,” he said in a statement posted on Instagram. “I’m a positive person. I’ve always had this mindset and carried it with me through every challenge I’ve faced, but this one is especially tough for me.

Girona was supposed to be the reset. | David Ramirez/Soccrates/Getty Images

“Last weekend, the worst happened: I got injured during the match. I had just arrived in Girona, where I was treated with great warmth and closeness from the very first minute. I was really looking forward to being part of the team and helping achieve our shared objective.

“Now my role has had to change completely, but my support for the team won’t. It’s not just a great group of players and coaching staff; it feels like a family, and from the start I’ve felt their support and closeness. As athletes, our greatest joy is competing: training and playing. I have to put all of that on pause for several months, as I’ve decided to undergo surgery. I will be back.”

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Ter Stegen’s World Cup Dreams Broken

Ter Stegen’s setback doesn’t change the goalkeeping situation at Barcelona. He was already out of the picture, with the club firmly behind summer signing Joan García as No. 1 and Wojciech Szczęsny occupying the understudy role.

But there was an opportunity for him to at last play in a major international tournament. Manuel Neuer retired off the back of Euro 2024, and Ter Stegen, backup to the national team legend at two World Cups and two European Championships since 2016, was finally going to get his time.

There is no other clear successor to Neuer. Hoffenheim’s Oliver Baumann, an international debutant at the age of 33 in 2024, has played the majority of Germany matches since the start of last year. The three other goalkeepers called up most recently have just two senior caps between them.

Ter Stegen has never played in a World Cup or European Championship match. | Mohammad Amirhosseini/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Even if it didn’t look like Ter Stegen was going to get that Germany chance at the start of this season because of his fall from grace at Barcelona, being able to play consistently for Girona for several months heading towards the World Cup made it very real again.

Now, shortly to turn 34 and his club career clouded in even more uncertainty owing to a second major injury in a matter of months, his opportunity to play at a World Cup could be gone forever.

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