German Chancellor’s office says ‘we are proud of you’ World Cup social post sent by mistake

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has also fallen foul of Germany’s World Cup elimination by Paraguay, after stumbling into a social media debacle following a communications blunder.

In the minutes after the Germans were eliminated on penalties for the first time in their World Cup history, a post from Merz’s official X account was published, reading: “Even if elimination hurts: what a game. With your commitment and team spirit at this World Cup,” the post continued, addressing the beaten players, “you have thrilled our country. We are proud of you.”

Merz was widely ridiculed for missing the mood. Germany last won the World Cup in 2014, but have been on an unprecedented run of failure in the years since.

They were eliminated at the group stage in 2018, then again in 2022, and while they did advance to the knockout stages this time, finishing first in a group containing Curacao, Ivory Coast and Ecuador, the last-32 defeat to Paraguay might arguably be the lowest moment within those barren years.

Germans were not thrilled by their team’s World Cup performances. They were certainly not proud of them, either, and were quick to respond to Merz’s post. Among the most popular responses were users accusing Chancellor Merz of being “detached” or, as is common among European leaders, using football to communicate with voters.

According to the Chancellor’s office, Merz’s post was a due to a communications error resulting in the incorrect social media post had been sent.

It was a case of “wrong tweet, wrong time, wrong button,” the Chancellor’s office told Berlin newspaper the Tagesspiegel, while also confirming that the episode was “unfortunately very annoying.”

According to reporting by Taggespiegel, a series of posts had been prepared in advance of the Germany game by Merz’s communications team, with the wrong one ultimately being published.

The Chancellor’s Office has not yet responded to The Athletic’s request for comment.

Auch wenn das Ausscheiden schmerzt: Was für ein Spiel, @DFB_Team! Mit eurem Einsatz und Teamgeist bei dieser WM habt ihr unser Land begeistert. Wir sind stolz auf euch. pic.twitter.com/TCMfDH6ROS

— Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz (@bundeskanzler) June 29, 2026

 

Merz’s analysis, according to another social media user, was “like turning up to give a book report when you haven’t read the book.”

Naturally, political rivals seized on the opportunity. Christian Goerke, a member of the Bundestag federal parliament who belongs to Die Linke, a left wing party who are in opposition to Merz’s coalition government, wrote on social media that “the Chancellor must have been watching a different game. This shows once again how distorted his perception of reality is. His perception of the situation in Germany is, to say the least, peculiar. Otherwise, he wouldn’t conclude that too little work is done and too much sick leave is taken in Germany.”

The latter comment was a reference to one of Merz’s most contentious policies: his paid leave crackdown. Germans, Merz believes, enjoy too many sick days and has challenged the right of workers to obtain sick leave from doctors over the telephone. It has been incredibly unpopular and many of the responses to his praise for the German national team made reference to that policy.

Following the negative reaction, Merz issued a second post the following day.

“We celebrate our successes together,” it read. “And in defeat, we stand united. That is what makes us strong. Whoever wears the eagle on their chest has earned our support and not our scorn.”

That was not received well either. As well as having won four World Cups in the past, the Germans have an especially good record in penalty shootouts. Since 1982, they had been involved in five World Cup shootouts and won them all, before the Paraguayans ended that record.

In response to Merz’s second tweet, one social media user quipped that the Chancellor “was the only German who could miss a penalty twice.”