Maximilian Wöber returns to the team after a long ordeal
In Windischgarsten, 28-year-old Maximilian Wöber stood in front of cameras on Tuesday and announced that he feels 100 percent fit again – a statement that carries particular weight after three muscle injuries that had cost him almost the entire last season and the World Cup in North America.
Three Injuries Cost the World Cup
Wöber had to miss practically the entire previous season due to a total of three injuries, causing him to miss the World Cup in North America. The injuries affected his thigh, calf and adductor. Without these appearances he stayed away from the national team for a long time.
"I feel very good and have 100 percent confidence in my body again," he said on Tuesday in Windischgarsten. He emphasized that he is now fully fit for action again. The interview took place as part of a team update.
The muscle injuries in the thigh, calf and adductor even caused the Schalke professionals to doubt the continuation of his career, Wöber explained. "Of course you wonder whether the body will still cooperate and if I can play at this level again without getting injured again," he added.
The injury on May 9 against Hoffenheim was especially bitter; a few seconds after his substitution he felt a stabbing pain while taking a throw‑in, he recalled. The diagnosis showed that he would have been only just fit for the first World Cup matches. Consequently, the team manager and the players decided that participation would make no sense.
"A lot of tears have been shed, because the World Cup was the great motivator that carried me through the years," said the 28‑year‑old. "But that's football, shit happens, so I'm all the more happy that the time is over," he added, emphasizing that the negative thoughts are now gone.
"Schalke's medical department has rebuilt me superbly, I can now attack fully and no longer have to worry about whether I'm training too much or too little," Wöber praised. He thanked the medical team for the intensive rehabilitation. With that, he is ready to play regularly again.
Club Performances and Changes in the National Team
This season, Wöber appeared four times as a substitute for the "Royal Blues" and scored a goal against Union Berlin. His 31st and so far last international match took place in June 2025 in a 2‑1 victory for the Austrian FA in Vienna against Romania. Since then, the squad has changed a lot.
"David Alaba, Marko Arnautovic, Marcel Sabitzer, Christoph Baumgartner and Konrad Laimer are no longer part of the current squad," he noted. "They are incredible people with whom I celebrated many victories and who are missing on and off the pitch," Wöber said. He added that the remaining, more experienced players now have to take on more responsibility.
"In the upcoming Nations League matches, we need to quickly regain our former strength," he emphasized. Tuesday's training lasted about two hours and was, as team manager Ralf Rangnick demanded, "brutal and intense." Additionally, the team carried out a video study of the Israeli side, which will be the first opponent on Thursday in Linz. "They are real gamblers, but our pressing is the best antidote," he concluded.