[Archive 2016-08-01] Schweinsteiger announces retirement from international football

Historical archive — originally published 2016-08-01. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

On Friday, German football captain and Manchester United F.C. midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger announced retirement from international football.

Debuting in 2004, Schweinsteiger has won 120 international caps, Germany's fourth all time most capped player. He was part of the German squad for the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament in France and became the first German to play eighteen Euro matches, surpassing the fourteen-match record of Philip Lahm. Schweinsteiger has played in four Euro tournaments — 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016.

Schweinsteiger won the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. He has featured in three FIFA World Cup tournaments — in 2006, 2010 and 2014. He has played 38 matches in major international tournaments, which is a world record. Schweinsteiger's last match in Germany's jersey ended in a 2–0 defeat against France in the Euro 2016 semi-final.

After Schweinsteiger announced his retirement, his former Bayern Munich teammate and German player Thomas Müller tweeted, "Thanks for 120 international caps with the @DFB_Team [German Team] and many great and shared hours with the national team" ((de))German language: ‍Danke für 120 Länderspiele im @DFB_Team [Deutschland Mannschaft] und viele großartige, gemeinsame stunder bei der Nationalmannschaft.

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