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‘Mr Outside-of-the-boot.’ He chose this title himself, and it’s what will be written on the celebratory send-off photo that he’ll be presented with before kick-off for Germany’s game on Sunday night. But to reduce Mats Hummels’ legacy to just being able to accurately find a teammate with an outside-of-the-boot ball would do a disservice to this special kind of player, even if no-one playing before or after the defender could claim to match him in this respect, with the exception of Franz Beckenbauer, Germany’s greatest ever footballer.

The moniker will adorn the farewell gift that DFB president Bernd Neuendorf and sporting director Rudi Völler will present to the former national team star on the pitch in Cologne before the start of the World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland on Sunday at 20:45 CEST. Even Hummels’ social media presence is under the name of ‘Aussenrist’ (Outside-of-the-boot), but so much more about his game marked him out as a truly special player. Hummels was a leader, a pioneer, a world-class defender, one with a mind to match his head. Like in 2014, when he headed in the winning goal in the 1-0 World Cup quarter-final win against France – a tournament that ended in glory for Germany.

“A true leader”

That’s exactly why there’s so much love and gratitude for World Cup winner Mats Hummels at the end of his career. “We are incredibly grateful for his incredible contribution to German football, particularly for the triumph in the World Cup in 2014,” said Neuendorf in April, after Hummels, at the time an AS Roma player, announced his intention to retire from professional football in the summer.  Neuendorf praised Hummels as “a true leader”, before continuing: “He was never shy of taking on responsibility, on the pitch as well as off it.”

Hummels could only ever be described as a committed national team player. You could sense in every moment what it meant to him to play for Germany. His debut came on 13th May 2010 in the 3-0 win over Malta in Aachen under then national team head coach Joachim Löw. He went on to pick up a further 77 international caps across his storied career, notching five goals along the way.

From 2012 onwards, he took part in every major tournament with Germany up to and including the EUROs in 2021. In both 2012 and 2016, he reached the semi-finals of the European Championship with the side. Hummels was in the squad as they were knocked out of the 2018 World Cup after the group stage, before exiting the European Championship at the quarter-finals in 2021.

“Role model for a whole generation”

The defender, who won five Bundesliga titles and three DFB-Pokal trophies across multiple spells at both hometown team FC Bayern München and Borussia Dortmund, played his final international match with Germany on 21st November 2023 in Vienna under head coach Julian Nagelsmann. Nagelsmann had brought Hummels back into the national team setup after taking on the role, and the World Cup winner was named in the starting XI for the head coach’s first game in charge, a 3-1 win over the USA.

Nagelsmann said about Hummels: “In his prime years, Mats Hummels set the standard at international level and became a role model for a whole generation of defenders. He was an outstanding central defender, not just for the national team, and reinvented the position for the modern day. You could always tell how much it meant to him to be playing for Germany. Even after the World Cup win in 2014, many players have benefitted from his experience and his tactical expertise. The national team has a lot to thank Mats for.”

That’s why he will be honoured on Sunday by another national team hero, with whom he shares more than just the title of World Cup winner. Völler, who won the tournament with Germany in 1990, also played for AS Roma, and today is still seen as a legend at the Italian giants. Völler described Hummels as one of the “defining faces in a very successful time for the national side and for the DFB. He played a huge part in these successes, not only as a leader on the pitch, but as a role model off of it. He has left his mark on the teams he has starred for in his career – which he finished at one of football’s greatest clubs in the most beautiful city in the world.”

“I was on the pitch in every spare moment”

Mats Hummels is one of the few players to have started his career at a professional club, rather than an amateur side. Not only that, but at the most successful club in German football. In 1995, he kicked off his playing journey within the youth setup at FC Bayern München. However, one could in fact trace his footballing life even further back – all the way to the Halberg-Stadion. It was there, in Taunusstein, Hesse, that Hummels’ father Hermann first coached the SV Wehen reserves, and then took charge of the first-team in the Oberliga. 

A young Mats was often with his father at the ground. When Hermann Hummels started a new role as a youth coach at FC Bayern München, he moved his family to Munich with him, including Mats’ younger brother Jonas, who later also made it as a professional footballer. And that’s where Mats’ incredible career really started to take off. “I was on the pitch in every spare moment. I missed family events, missed parts of holidays, all because I never wanted to skip a game. You never had to force me in this respect. I’ve still always had a kick-about with my mates outside of training,” reminisced Hummels.

After his transfer to Borussia Dortmund in 2009, Hummels won the European U21 Championship in Sweden as a part of head coach Horst Hrubesch’s Germany side. He featured alongside plenty of other players who would go on to be the faces of the senior team and win the World Cup in 2014 with Hummels. All of them have already hung up their boots on the international stage. Now, it’s time for Hummels to do the same. All that remains to be said on Sunday is a sentiment there in every Germany fan’s heart: ‘Thank you, Mats!’