Tah ready to show leadership qualities at Bayern after World Cup disappointment

Jonathan Tah had Germany’s last kick of the 2026 World Cup as his miss in the penalty shootout confirmed Paraguay’s progress to the Round of 16 at the expense of the four-time winners. The 30-year-old shares his goals for the new season in this week’s “Midweek Interviews” segment by Bundesliga.

“Every experience, especially failures or hard moments, always makes you stronger, you know?” Tah looked back at the World Cup disappointment. “It's not the first time, and it's not going to be the last time I will fail. And I think, you know, that's my mindset, and that's how I
prepare for everything in my life.

“You always grow. It's never about avoiding failures. It's more about being confident and being brave, also to take opportunities and to live in the moment. Sometimes it goes your way and sometimes not. The most important thing is that you stay brave and confident, and that's how I'm going to grow from it.”

A Bundesliga champion with Bayer Leverkusen and FC Bayern, the 30-year-old then shares his goals for the upcoming season. “I want to work on stuff that I've always been working on. I think one important thing for me is also to grow more in the role of a leader in a team.

“In your first year, you always have to adapt to a new team, and you have to see how you fit. But, in the end, I had the feeling that I could play my role as a leader with others on and off the pitch.

“I think one goal that I told myself is that we don't want to concede more goals. We want to concede fewer goals than last season. Yes, we’ll work on that.”

Tah looks forward to taking more responsibilities in terms of leadership as he’ll continue to play alongside Frenchman Dayot Upamecano. Meanwhile, there is a new face at the left-back position with the arrival of Nathaniel Brown from Eintracht Frankfurt.

“I know him (Brown) from the national team and, you know, he's a really good player with a lot of abilities who can help our team,” Tah spoke about his new clubmate. “He’s also a good person. He's a bit shy and introverted sometimes, which is okay. But he's a kind person, and I think he fits perfectly in this group.

“I think that's his personality. He's not really loud, and you don't have the feeling that he wants a lot of attention, but he's confident. I remember when I was young, people always said ‘he's shy,’ but I was never really shy. So I understand how he acts. I don't want to say he's shy, but he's maybe a little bit introverted.”

Bayern will start their season next week away at Dortmund in the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup. “Winning trophies is always something special. And this trophy is different from others. We had a great season last time, and that's why we can contest for this trophy at the beginning of this season. It's always something special. And we’ll go there to win it.” Tah said about the season's curtain-raiser.