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Christian Wück will become the new women’s national team head coach following the 2024 Olympic Games. The FIFA U-17 World Cup winning coach will replace Horst Hrubesch in the summer, with the 72-year-old having secured qualification for the tournament in Paris following a 2-0 win against the Netherlands in the semifinals of the UEFA Women’s Nations League. As previously agreed, Hrubesch and his coaching staff will take charge of the team up until the conclusion of the Olympic Games. Wück will be in charge of the U-15 junior national team until he begins his new role. Following that, the Germany Women’s national team’s reset will begin with him at the helm.
His assistant coach will be Maren Meinert, whilst his second assistant coach will be announced shortly. One of the most successful coaches and a former national team player is set to return to the DFB in the form of Meinert. The Duisburg native has extensive experience in women’s football, won the World Cup as a player and has won two U-20 World Cups, as well as three U-19 European Championships as a coach. Additionally, she has also been a regular member of Silvia Neid’s coaching staff at U-21s tournaments.
The 50-year-old Wück began his coaching career in 2006 as assistant coach at Rot Weiss Ahlen, where he took over as head coach a year later and secured promotion to Bundesliga 2 at the first time of asking. The former professional, who played for 1.FC Nürnberg, Karlsruher SC, VfL Wolfsburg and Arminia Bielefeld during his career, joined the DFB as the U-16 national team’s assistant coach in November 2011, having come from Holstein Kiel. He took over as head coach in the following season. Wück, who was born in Werneck in Lower Franconia, recently made history with the U-17 national team. After winning the European Championships in June 2023, he also triumphed at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia exactly six months later.
DFB president Bernd Neuendorf said, “Christian Wück is a renowned specialist, and he speaks the players’ language. He has proved in the past that he is able to develop personalities and turn teams into a close-knit unit. I’m convinced that he’s the right man to lead our team into the future following the Olympics. At this point, my thanks also go to Horst Hrubesch who has once more come to our aid in a difficult situation. I wish him every success for the upcoming games and the Olympics, and I would love it if he handed things over to Christian Wück with a medal.”
The DFB’s sporting director for women’s football, Nia Künzer, explained, “We were impressed by Christian Wück’s passion, expertise and clear, targeted approach. He’s a coach who knows how to develop players and improve them individually and who is always very communicative during this process. He’s got a winner’s mentality and knows how to make a team made up of unique personalities successful. One of our priorities is to promote the development of young players from the U21s, as well as mould current players into leaders, and he’s the right man to do that. He was impressive across the board. We’ll support Horst and his coaching team as best we can until his tenure is over. We want to achieve our collective dream of winning a medal at the World Cup, as it would be the perfect send-off for Horst.”
Christian Wück reacted to the news by saying, “I’m looking forward to this new challenge and think it’s a huge honour to be able to take charge of this side. I didn’t think twice before accepting the offer. To coach this team, help the players to improve and set the side up for long-term success is one of the most exciting and demanding tasks in German football. Having the opportunity to stand alongside this team and help to shape their path after the Olympics makes me proud. Until then, we’ll all be keeping our fingers crossed for Horst and the rest of the coaching team at the European Qualifiers and then at the Olympics.”
Horst Hrubesch stated, “I hold Christian Wück in high regard. I know him from when I first worked with the DFB. He showed the qualities he has as a coach back then. That’s why I’m convinced that, in him, I’ll have a worthy successor. I’ve always emphasised that being entrusted to coach the women’s national team is a matter very close to my heart. In this sense, I can only wish him the very best when he takes over this special role after the Olympics.”
