India, July 18 -- Through most of the interaction, Oliver Kahn took a few moments to gather his thoughts before answering.

Then came a question about Germany's performance at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Since winning their fourth world title in 2014, Germany failed to make it out of the group stage in 2018 and 2022 and were eliminated in the Round of 32 this time, losing to Paraguay on penalties.

The former Bayern and Germany goalkeeping great, who was captain at the 2002 World Cup - they lost to Brazil in the final - said: "We must be absolutely clear - in the last three World Cups Germany didn't play any role at all."

Germany's campaign started with a 7-1 win over World Cup debutants Curacao. They struggled in a come-from-behind 2-1 wi...