Levi Rothermund
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Jonas Urbig has done something in his first two caps for Germany that eluded several goalkeeping legends across nearly five decades. The Bayern Munich shot-stopper kept clean sheets in both his senior debut outings, a feat only one other German keeper has matched since 1977.
Urbig made his senior debut last Thursday in Germany’s 2-0 win over Serbia in the Nations League. Coach Jürgen Klopp then handed him a second start in the 0-0 draw away in Greece on Sunday. He shut out both opponents over the full 90 minutes in each game.
Data provider Opta confirms Urbig is only the second German goalkeeper since 1977 to avoid conceding in his opening two full internationals. The other is Oliver Baumann of TSG Hoffenheim, who achieved the same in October and November 2024. Baumann, still Germany’s number two at the World Cup but left out of the squad for the first internationals under Klopp, kept clean sheets in a 1-0 win over the Netherlands and a 7-0 rout of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Baumann’s impressive debut. Source: Bavarian Football Works
Several decorated German number ones never managed this. Manuel Neuer, still Bayern’s first-choice keeper ahead of Urbig, conceded on his international debut during a 7-2 friendly win over the United Arab Emirates in June 2009.
When did Oliver Kahn concede his first goal for the national team?
Oliver Kahn, a multiple World Goalkeeper of the Year like Neuer, let in a goal in each of his first two caps among a total of 86 internationals. The first came in June 1995, a 2-1 friendly win over Switzerland. The second arrived in September 1995, when Kahn started a 4-1 win over Georgia in Euro 1996 qualifying.
Jens Lehmann, Germany’s number one at the 2006 home World Cup, presents an unusual case. Now 56, he matched Urbig and Baumann by staying unbeaten in his first two internationals: a 2-0 friendly win over Oman in February 1998 and a 7-0 friendly victory against Luxembourg that June. Lehmann only played the second half in both matches, coming on for first-choice keeper Andreas Köpke.
His first two full 90-minute appearances told a different story. Both ended badly for the national team. Lehmann conceded in a 0-1 friendly defeat to Scotland in April 1999 and a 0-4 loss to Brazil at the Confederations Cup that July.
Urbig’s rise at Bayern
Urbig joined Bayern from 1. FC Köln at the start of 2025 and has been groomed in Munich as Neuer’s eventual successor, with the veteran possibly closing out his career next summer. Urbig remains the club’s number two but continues to get minutes, having made two appearances already this season.
When was Jonas Urbig first nominated for the DFB team?
The 23-year-old earned his first call-up under Klopp’s predecessor, Julian Nagelsmann, but did not feature in the friendlies against Finland (4-0) and the USA (2-1) that preceded the disappointing World Cup campaign in North America. Klopp included Urbig in the second part of his extended squad for this unusually long international window and turned to him again in Greece after the Serbia debut.
“The situation is that all the lads we have with us are playing regularly, and that is different with Jonas. That is why we planned for him to get another game,” Klopp said the day before the Greece match, explaining why Urbig was preferred over Noah Atubolu (Eintracht Frankfurt’s number one) and Finn Dahmen (FC Augsburg’s number one).
Who is currently number one in the DFB team?
Klopp has handed Marc-Andre ter Stegen the status of Germany’s new number one following Neuer’s second and final retirement. Ter Stegen, currently on loan from Barcelona to Ajax, started in goal for Klopp’s debut as Germany coach against the Netherlands (1-1) but was absent from the squad for the recent Nations League fixtures.
Urbig’s composed first two outings give him a real chance to develop into ter Stegen’s primary challenger. In Greece, he looked assured and produced an early save, brilliantly denying a header from Georgios Masouras in the second minute during one of Greece’s few dangerous attacking moments.
Keep following TipsGG for continued coverage of Germany’s goalkeeping battle and every twist in the national team’s build-up to major tournaments.