Germany were licking their wounds on Tuesday after yet another World Cup disaster amid calls for coach Julian Nagelsmann to go and Jürgen Klopp to take over.
A 4-3 defeat on penalties against Paraguay in the first knock-out match was deemed effectively as bad for the four-time champions as group stage exits in 2018 and 2022.
It was not yet clear whether the team would already fly home later Tuesday but German Football Federation (DFB) were expected to further asess the damage and the future of Nagelsmann who has been on the job since 2023 and has a contract until 2028.
Nagelsmann was bullish after the defeat, telling broadcasters ZDF in a frractious interview: "I'm available if the DFB wants it, I have a deal until 2028. If not, then they have to tell me. I am not the sort of person who runs away."
Germany national team sporting director Rudi Völler said he was "still convinced that he's the right man for the job, the right person in the right place.
"When you're eliminated like this, many people won't understand it. I still think he's an absolutely top-class coach," he said, while adding that it wasn't up to him alone to decide.
Germany's previous group-stage eliminations came in 2018 under 2014 World Cup-winning coach Joachim Löw and 2022 under Hansi Flick. Both were kept on after the shock exits.
A number of former German World Cup winning pundits ranging from Lothar Matthäus and Jürgen Klinsmann to Christoph Kramer and Mats Hummels called for consequences in every area.
The Bild paper bluntly said that "now Klopp must come" and wasn't alone in the call for the the former Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool coach to take over.
But Klopp, who is now head of Red Bull's global football operations and at the World Cup as a Magenta TV pundit, would not comment.
"I understand that my name is brought into play. But it is not the right moment to talk about it," Klopp said.
