Few players are as inextricably linked to the as Mario Gotze.
Having been born in a small town outside of Munich, the World Cup for Gotze was a much a dream as for any any football-loving child. Little did he know that he would go on to star on the global stage for Germany, , defeating all-time great Lionel Messi and Argentina in the process.
Ahead of the final of the 2026 showpiece, FIFA sat down with the German maestro to discuss his finals memories and how that unforgettable moment changed his life.
Gotze: For me personally, that was my first World Cup, and it was in Brazil. I think that’s one of the best places to have a World Cup because they are so enthusiastic about football. It’s just crazy.
How everything was set up with our camp in Brazil, the players we had, the team behind the team, it was very very well done. I was lucky to start the first games, then I I didn’t play the quarter-final and the semi-final, so that was not easy, especially because I had started the first games and made an impact. At the same time, I was probably one of the youngest players. But in that moment of course, playing in my first World Cup, I wanted to play every game and have an impact. Plus [at the time] you don’t know the outcome, so if you don’t play and you go out in the group stage, then that’s it. So that was the two phases I had until the finals.
One [thing] is what I actually experienced, you know that feeling, that relief after the final. I think it gets blurrier and blurrier over time, because it’s already 12 years ago now, so it vanishes a bit. But at the same time, I’ve seen the goal so often that that is the memory that sticks with me [laughs]. And then I see myself 12 years younger, but it (watching replays back) is a bit different than what actually happened. It’s all very positive and a great memory for me. That’s also why I’m still lucky to be here now in the US during a World Cup, speaking about that goal. I know how lucky I was to contribute in that way.
I have to say I've seen the video probably more often, because [in a match] you only have that millisecond of [focus on] what you're doing on the pitch, and now I see that replay so often. I remember now more that Toni Kroos played it to [Andre] Schurrle and Schurrle played it to me, so it's different than my own point of view [on the field].
[Laughing] I don’t know if they know. They've probably heard of it. But, I think they can’t really know what it means [yet]. I think in that moment and also the hours after, you can't really prepare or know what's happening. I think it took months or years after it happened to get that perspective of what really changed.
But in the end, it changed everything for me. The perspective I had, the perspective the media had, my family, everything, because of course it's a very special moment. Normally, you can't have that in your career, so I was lucky to do that. I was lucky to play two World Cups and have that moment in the final. Then everything changed, of course, because I was 22 back then. I'm 34 now, and I have to have a different perspective than I did back then.
I was in Dortmund before then. I had won a couple of championships and cups in Germany. Then I won the World Cup. That was the first five years [of my career]. That was the standard. To keep that standard was very difficult for me, and to also understand that it can't always go that way. In the next four years, I had to accept that I wouldn't be in another [World Cup] final and score a goal or keep that level, or keep winning that amount of trophies. Maybe if you're Messi or Ronaldo, okay, but otherwise it's impossible. I had to understand that from that moment, it was a different phase in my career, and that took me a couple of years to understand.
I played against him before that when he was in Barcelona. Then with Argentina, it was just crazy because I think it was the first time I really understood why he's so special. Because he's mostly walking on the pitch, but if he gets the ball, it's impossible to catch him. He understands the game so well and how the dynamics of the game work, so he's just crazy. That's why he's still playing, that's why he's still scoring. I think he's just unbelievable.
[Laughing] I would tell them: ‘Score a World Cup-winning goal aged 36 and then stop your career!’
I think I would probably say two things. First, that it’s just a goal. In the end, I only played 30 minutes, I scored the goal and that's it. I've done that in the past, I don't know how often, in training or in other games. Second, that your own perspective is more important than what the media or the people around you make of it.
That's why I always kept telling myself, ‘Okay, it's just a goal and just a moment I was lucky to experience.’ You have to have your own perspective on that. I think that's important because, otherwise, other people make you something you're not. That's probably the thing I had to learn over the years after the goal.
That’s a good question. I would say the most emotions I had was when I was 18 and won the championship with Dortmund, because no-one expected it. It was my first year in the Bundesliga, and we won the championship.
I think that was more special because, in the end, I didn't know what to expect in my first year. That team was crazy. We played so good. [Jurgen] Klopp was coach. We had a young team. So I would say that is probably the best and most important thing.
And then, of course, the World Cup. Not only because of the goal, but also the experiences I had before: the European championship in 2012 in Poland with the national team and then 2014 in Brazil to build that relationship with the players, with the coaches, and with the team behind the team, to make those experiences in Brazil, that was special. That will also stick with me in the next years, these memories, not only the goal, but also how I felt in the camp during training with the team, the atmosphere we had, the chemistry we had. I think that's probably equally important.
Sources: FIFA Official
