Jurgen Klopp stressed that Germany must become more than the sum of their parts if they are to challenge the world's top teams after agreeing to lead the national team for the next four years.

Klopp takes the reins after two years out of management, having brought his nine-year stint with Liverpool to a halt in 2024.

Klopp has overseen 1,080 matches across his managerial career, winning 588 of those (D256 L236). His 431 games in charge of Liverpool are the third-most by any manager in the club's history, behind Bill Shankly's 799 and Bob Paisley's 523.

He brought the Premier League and Champions League trophies to Anfield, having also won two Bundesliga titles with Borussia Dortmund, but his next challenge may be his biggest yet.

Germany suffered a humiliating round-of-32 elimination at this year's World Cup, losing to Paraguay on penalties following a 1-1 draw in 120 minutes.

Having gone out in the group stage in 2018 and 2022, the four-time champions have not tasted victory in a World Cup knockout match since the 2014 final, when they beat Argentina 1-0 in extra time.

Germany reached the Euro 2024 quarter-finals on home soil, but they went out to England in the round of 16 at Euro 2020. That means that across the last five major tournaments (World Cup/Euros), they have failed to reach the quarters on four occasions and have never gone beyond that stage.

Germany are now 12th in the FIFA World Rankings, with Morocco, Belgium, Mexico and Colombia among the teams above them.

But even if they do not have the firepower of the elite sides, Klopp feels there is still a route to success if Germany can get their balance right.

"Success is about how you perform in relation to expectations. When we ask in Germany: are we as good as France? And the answer is no, that's not true," Klopp told reporters at his introductory press conference.

"The question should be, do we have players like [Ousmane] Dembele, [Kylian] Mbappe, [Desire] Doue, [Bradley] Barcola? The answer is no. 

"But we still can beat them. It's not important to look at France, Spain, Argentina. We must look at ourselves and how we play football. 

"We aren't number one in the world at the moment. There are 11 nations ahead of us in the rankings, but we have to make beating them possible with the way we play."

Reflecting on his journey to the biggest job in German football, Klopp said: "Knowing where I come from, it was unimaginable that it would ever come to this. It's a very special day. 

"As a coaching team, we want to bring a complete package. I've never been a coach who just shows up, puts the players through their paces, and then goes home after training.

"I've always taken care of things that happen at the club. Now it's a federation, a country. I feel a responsibility to everyone who's a football fan in this country."

But Klopp insists he will not hesitate to step aside if results are not good enough or if the intense media scrutiny affects his private life. 

He added: "The day you don't want me any more, I'm gone... without any severance pay. 

"If you say tomorrow, 'he's rubbish', I'm gone. Not just one person! It would have to be more than that!

"If the DFB says, 'he's rubbish', I'm gone. If you behave badly and don't leave my family in peace, I'm gone, but do criticise me if something doesn't work."

Across his 334 Premier League matches in charge of Liverpool, Klopp only gave appearances to two German players – Emre Can and Loris Karius.

He is one of only three coaches to have won the Bundesliga and Premier League, alongside Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti, both of whom won the German title with Bayern Munich.

His first game in charge will be against Germany's old rivals, the Netherlands, in the Nations League on September 24. Greece and Serbia are also in their group.