Pascal Groß would have liked to take a penalty against Paraguay at the World Cup | Goal.com

Published on 21 Sep 2026 | Reading time: 2 minutes

That did not happen because Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann did not send the midfielder on. The DFB team lost the shoot-out on penalties after 120 minutes had ended 1-1. TV pictures showed key player Joshua Kimmich struggling to find takers once it became clear that more than the five players each team had originally agreed would have to step up.

Leon Goretzka did not want to take one, so Jonathan Tah became the sixth taker and blasted over the first penalty of his career. "I was prepared for this scenario, but I don't want to rake it over now," Groß said in kicker about his possible involvement in the penalty shoot-out. After that, the issue did not come up again with head coach Nagelsmann: "No, there was no conversation. It hurt him enormously too, of course, everyone was devastated," said Groß.

At the World Cup in North America, he only came off the bench for 17 minutes in the group game against Ecuador. The 35-year-old was then left out of new head coach Jürgen Klopp's squad, which was no surprise given his age, even if he had initially not publicly announced his retirement from the DFB team. "After the World Cup, with a bit of distance, I had already decided that the matter was over for me," he admitted, adding: "I did not have a conversation with the head coach. For me, not being nominated is not a problem."

Groß has played 19 internationals for Germany and scored one goal. For Brighton, he has made a very strong start to the new season. The Seagulls head into the international break in third place. Groß has delivered an outstanding three goals and four assists in five Premier League matches.

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