2014 World Cup winner Hummels to retire at season’s end

Roma defender Mats Hummels, who won the 2014 World Cup with Germany, is set to retire at the end of the season, he announced on social media on Friday. 

In an emotional video posted to Instagram, the 36-year-old referenced “a moment no footballer can avoid,” adding “after more than 18 years of everything football has given me, I’m ending my career this summer”.

Hummels came through Bayern Munich’s juniors and made his debut for the club aged 18, before moving to Borussia Dortmund where he became a core part of Jurgen Klopp’s two-time title winners. 

Playing alongside fellow centre-back Jerome Boateng, Hummels played every minute of the 2014 World Cup final, where Germany beat Argentina 1-0 at Brazil’s Maracana stadium to lift the title for the fourth time. 

He later moved back to Bayern, where he won three more league titles. Hummels’ return to Bayern, seen critically by some Dortmund fans, was in pursuit of a Champions League title but the defender never managed to break through in Europe’s top competition. 

Hummels returned to Dortmund in 2019, a year before Bayern beat Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final to lift their sixth crown. 

The defender twice played in the showpiece Champions League final, in 2013 and 2024, both times in a losing effort with Dortmund and both times at Wembley.

A 78-time Germany player, Hummels played 508 matches for Dortmund and a further 118 for Bayern. He moved to Serie A side Roma in 2024 and will retire having played one season for the club. 

Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann praised Hummels as “a benchmark at the international level and a role model for a generation of defenders”.