World Cup winner Mats Hummels to retire from football at the end of the season

Roma defender Mats Hummels is set to retire from playing at the end of the season.

Hummels joined Roma last summer but has made some high-profile errors. The former Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich centre-half has decided to quit.

He said (via X): “I’ve seen so many guys, so many coaches, who I owe a lot to. Without them, my whole career would never have got off the ground or reached this level.”

Hummels concludes the video post by discussing his career, saying: “I will miss it. I will miss it terribly.”

Hummels was regarded as one of the best players of his generation. He is renowned for his world-class reading of the game and exquisite distribution of the ball from the rearguard.

The Germany international enjoyed a glittering career, winning 15 titles across spells at two of his country’s most storied clubs.

His trophy cabinet includes five Bundesliga Meisterschales and a World Cup title.  

The 36-year-old made 78 appearances for Die Mannschaft and over 600 outings for Bayern and Dortmund. He is a Bundesliga legend with over 400 appearances in the German top flight.

He is the son of iconic football presenter Ulla Holthoff and former defender Hermann Hummels, who managed Jurgen Klopp at Mainz 05.

Klopp, who used to babysit Hummels for his manager, gave him his big break at Dortmund. They won two Bundesliga titles, a DFB Pokal and reached the final of the UEFA Champions League.

Hummels is only the fifth player after Olaf Thon, Michael Zorc, Holger Fach, Bernd Nickel and Willi Neuberger to score in 16 consecutive Bundesliga campaigns.

It took him until his fourth top-flight season to score his first league goal for Dortmund in a 3-3 draw against Werder Bremen in 2007/08.