The European Championship success of the German women’s football team is closely linked to Martina Voss-Tecklenburg. The coach is now to stay on beyond the next World Cup.

The contract of national football coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg will be extended beyond the World Cup in the summer, according to a media report. The agreement is to be sealed before the two international matches in the Netherlands (7 April) and against Brazil (11 April), the “Bild” newspaper reported on Tuesday evening. A spokeswoman for the German Football Association said at the request of dpa: “We are in very good talks.” The 55-year-old’s current contract with the DFB expires after the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand from 20 July to 20 August.

A further cooperation had already been in the offing, especially since Voss-Tecklenburg reached the final with the German team at the 2022 European Championship in England and thus ensured an upswing in women’s football in Germany. The former national striker had already stressed last year: “I would like to stay until after the 2027 World Cup.” The DFB is bidding for this tournament together with the Netherlands and Belgium.

According to “Bild”, Voss-Tecklenburg is to be tied to the DFB until the 2025 European Championship. The tournament host will be determined by UEFA on 4 April. Candidates are France, Poland, Switzerland as well as Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway with a joint bid. Voss-Tecklenburg will give a video press conference this Wednesday (10.00 am) before the next two international matches in Sittard and Nuremberg.

Negotiations with the DFB had also been delayed by the departure of director Oliver Bierhoff after the men’s team’s debacle at the World Cup in Qatar. “It will certainly not be the case that we extend a contract only after the World Cup,” Voss-Tecklenburg said recently, however.

She had taken over the post from Horst Hrubesch in 2018, before which she coached the Swiss women’s team. Voss-Tecklenburg was then eliminated with the German team at the 2019 World Cup in France in the quarter-finals against Sweden and missed out on Olympic participation.