Christian Wörns

Christian Wörns
Wörns training with Borussia Dortmund in 2006
Personal information
Date of birth (1972-05-10) 10 May 1972
Place of birth Mannheim, West Germany
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position Defender
Team information
Current team
 Germany U19 (manager)
Youth career
1980–1985 Phönix Mannheim
1985–1989 Waldhof Mannheim
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1991 Waldhof Mannheim 52 (3)
1991–1998 Bayer Leverkusen 211 (13)
1998–1999 Paris Saint-Germain 28 (2)
1999–2008 Borussia Dortmund 240 (14)
Total 531 (31)
International career
1990–1993 Germany U21 16 (1)
1992–2005 Germany 66 (0)
Managerial career
2009–2011 Hombrucher SV (youth)[1]
2012–2013 VfL Bochum U15[1]
2013–2014 Schalke 04 U17[1]
2014–2015 SpVgg Unterhaching (assistant)[1]
2014–2015 SpVgg Unterhaching U16[1]
2016–2017 FC Augsburg II
2017–2018 1860 Munich U19
2019–2020 Germany U18
2020–2021 Germany U19
2021–2022 Germany U20
2022–2023 Germany U18
2023–2024 Germany U19
2024–2025 Germany U18
2025– Germany U19
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Germany
UEFA European Championship
Runner-up1992 Sweden
Representing  Germany (as manager)
UEFA European Under-19 Championship
Runner-up2026 Wales
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Christian Wörns (born 10 May 1972) is a German former professional footballer who played as a defender. Wörns is widely considered one of the finest German defenders of his generation.[2] He started his career with Waldhof Mannheim but played the majority of his career with Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund.[3] He also had a short stint with Paris Saint-Germain.[4]

After retirement, Wörns began his coaching career working with youth teams of Hombrucher SV, and has since focused on managing youth sides. He is currently in charge of the Germany national under-19 team.

Club career

Wörns was born in Mannheim. He made his professional debut in the Bundesliga at the young age of 17 years, 3 months and 30 days for Waldhof Mannheim and at the time, was the fourth youngest debutant ever. He played 18 games in his first season and 34 the next in the 2. Bundesliga.

The next year, he transferred to Bayer Leverkusen. Wörns quickly established himself as a defensive stalwart and anchored the strong Leverkusen defense for nearly a decade, together with sweeper Jens Nowotny and Markus Happe.

In 1998, he moved abroad to Paris Saint-Germain in France. He failed to settle in and after one season transferred to Borussia Dortmund. He continued to play at Borussia Dortmund until he retired in 2008.

International career

Wörns with Germany in 2004

Wörns represented his country on 66 occasions and did not score.

  • Euro 1992: receives a runners-up (silver) medal as a backup squad member.
  • Euro 1996: after an injury hit season, Wörns fails to get nominated and misses being on the winning squad.
  • World Cup 1998: Considered the best player on the German squad, Wörns played well for much of the tournament. However, in the quarter-final match against Croatia, he fouled Davor Šuker in the 40th minute to stop a possible breakaway run on goal, and received a straight red card from Norwegian referee Rune Pedersen. Three unanswered goals were scored against Germany after his sending off, making him the scapegoat for his country's 0–3 loss.
  • World Cup 2002: Doesn't play due to injury, but the team finishes the tournament as runners-up (silver).
  • Euro 2004: Germany is eliminated in the group stage after two draws and a loss.
  • When Germany manager Jürgen Klinsmann announced the 22 players for a friendly with Italy in Florence, in the lead-up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, 34-year-old Wörns was only a backup squad member. This prompted an outrageous interview by Wörns. Because he verbally attacked Klinsmann during the interview, the German Football Association took disciplinary action against Wörns and banned from playing as an international.[5] This was similar to what happened to Uli Stein (during the 1986 FIFA World Cup) and Stefan Effenberg (during the 1994 FIFA World Cup). The dropping of Wörns from the national team was roundly panned in Germany, as Italy routed Germany 4–1 in that exhibition game, and Klinsmann bore the brunt of the criticism as the team was ranked only 22nd in the world entering the 2006 FIFA World Cup.[6] Germany ended up finishing the tournament in third place (bronze).

Managerial career

Wörns became manager of FC Augsburg II on 29 December 2015.[7] He took over a team that won 16 points from 20 matches.[7] His first match as manager came on 20 February 2016 in a 4–1 win against FC Ingolstadt 04 II.[8] On 12 March 2016, Augsburg II lost 6–0 to SpVgg Unterhaching.[8]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Continental Other Total Ref.
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Waldhof Mannheim 1990–91 Bundesliga 18020——200[9]
1989–90 2. Bundesliga 34220——362[9]
Total522400000562—
Bayer Leverkusen 1991–92 Bundesliga 38051——431[9]
1992–93 Bundesliga 34270——412[9]
1993–94 Bundesliga 336416[b]11[c]0448[9]
1994–95 Bundesliga 191215[d]0—262[9]
1995–96 Bundesliga 25230——282[9]
1996–97 Bundesliga 33110——341[9]
1997–98 Bundesliga 291309[e]01[f]0421[9]
Total211132532012025817—
Paris Saint-Germain 1998–99 Ligue 1 282001[b]000292[9]
Borussia Dortmund 1999–2000 Bundesliga 262107[g]02[f]0382[9]
2000–01 Bundesliga 23330——263[10]
2001–02 Bundesliga 2921016[h]02[f]0482[9]
2002–03 Bundesliga 3001010[e]0—410[11]
2003–04 Bundesliga 311206[i]03[f]0421[9]
2004–05 Bundesliga 29110——301[12]
2005–06 Bundesliga 282102[j]0—312[9]
2006–07 Bundesliga 24220——262[13]
2007–08 Bundesliga 20130——231[14]
Total240141504107030514—
Career total531314436119064835
  1. ↑ Includes DFB-Pokal, Coupe de France
  2. 1 2 Appearance(s) in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
  3. ↑ Appearance in DFB-Supercup
  4. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Cup
  5. 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  6. 1 2 3 4 Appearance(s) in DFL-Ligapokal
  7. ↑ Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, three appearances in UEFA Cup
  8. ↑ Seven appearances in UEFA Champions League, nine appearances in UEFA Cup
  9. ↑ Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Cup
  10. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Intertoto Cup

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Germany[15] 199240
199300
199400
199540
199600
199730
1998120
199990
200010
200150
200230
2003110
2004110
200530
Total660

Managerial record

As of 10 August 2018
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
M W D L Win % Ref.
FC Augsburg II 1 January 2016[7] 6 August 2017 54211716038.89 [8]

Honours

As a player

Bayer Leverkusen

Paris Saint-Germain

Borussia Dortmund

Germany

Individual

As a manager

Germany U19

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Christian Wörns verstärkt Trainerteam". SpVgg Unterhaching. 14 July 2014.
  2. ↑ "Bundesliga Team Of The Decade 2000-2010". Goal. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  3. ↑ "Christian Wörns". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  4. ↑ "Christian Wörns".
  5. ↑ "The official website for European football". Archived from the original on 9 August 2014.
  6. ↑ Longman, Jere (20 March 2006). "German Coach and American Ways Are a Tough Match". The New York Times.
  7. 1 2 3 "Wörns übernimmt die U 23 von Augsburg" (in German). kicker. 29 December 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 "FC Augsburg II". Kicker (in German). kicker. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Christian Wörns » Club matches". World Football. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  10. ↑ "Christian Wörns". Kicker (in German). kicker. Archived from the original on 22 June 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  11. ↑ "Christian Wörns". Kicker (in German). kicker. Archived from the original on 21 June 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  12. ↑ "Christian Wörns". Kicker (in German). kicker. Archived from the original on 21 June 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  13. ↑ "Christian Wörns". Kicker (in German). kicker. Archived from the original on 21 June 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  14. ↑ "Wörns, Christian" (in German). Kicker. Archived from the original on 21 June 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  15. ↑ "Christian Wörns". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  16. ↑ "Bundesliga Historie 1995/96" (in German). kicker. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012.
  17. ↑ "Bundesliga Historie 1996/97" (in German). kicker. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012.
  18. ↑ "Bundesliga Historie 1997/98" (in German). kicker. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012.
  19. ↑ "Bundesliga Historie 2001/02" (in German). kicker. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012.
  20. ↑ "2026 Under-19 EURO final highlights & report: Spain overcome Germany to seal tenth title". uefa.com. 11 July 2026. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
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