Urbig follows only Baumann: First two internationals without conceding

In Munich's Olympiastadion, where the light flickers over the pitch, the 23‑year‑old Jonas Urbig stands between the posts. While he completes his second national team appearance, one recalls Manuel Neuer and Oliver Kahn, who never completed this feat and thereby rewrite a chapter of goalkeeper history.

First Appearances and Clean Sheet

Last Thursday Urbig celebrated his debut for the German A‑national team in the Nations‑League match against Serbia, which Germany won 2 : 0. Only four days later, on Sunday, he was again in goal as the team in Athens achieved a goalless 0 : 0 draw against Greece. In both matches he kept a clean sheet for the full 90 minutes. National team coach Jürgen Klopp therefore relied on the young Bayern keeper for two consecutive appearances.

According to data provider Opta, Urbig is thus only the second German goalkeeper since 1977 to remain unbeaten in his first two international matches. The first was Oliver Baumann of TSG Hoffenheim, who in October and November 2024 kept clean sheets with a 1 : 0 win over the Netherlands and a 7 : 0 victory over Bosnia‑Herzegovina.

Comparison with German Goalkeeping Legends

In contrast, Manuel Neuer lost his clean sheet already after his debut, when in June 2009 he ended a friendly against the United Arab Emirates with a 7 : 2 win that included a concession. Oliver Kahn did not concede his first goal until his second international match, after having kept a clean sheet in his first two outings – a 2 : 1 victory over Switzerland in June 1995 and a 4 : 1 win over Georgia in September 1995 – each of which saw him concede a goal. Jens Lehmann, however, remained unbeaten in his first two appearances, both friendlies, but was substituted at halftime for Andreas Köpke.

Only in his first two full internationals did Lehmann have to concede a goal: a 0 : 1 defeat to Scotland in April 1999 and a 0 : 4 loss to Brazil at the Confederations Cup in July 1999. Thus he completes the list of German goalkeepers who, despite early clean appearances, later allowed goals.

Urbig's Path to Neuer's Successor

Urbig moved in early 2025 from 1. FC Köln to Bayern Munich and has since been regarded as a potential successor to Manuel Neuer, who is expected to end his career next summer. Although he is currently the number two, he has already earned two caps for the national team this season. Klopp said the day before the Greece match: “The thing is, all the guys we have with us play regularly, but it’s different for Jonas. So we have planned that he gets another game.” With this, he was favoured over Noah Atubolu (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Finn Dahmen (FC Augsburg).

After Neuer's definitive retirement, Jürgen Klopp assigned the new number one in the DFB goal to Marc‑Andre ter Stegen, who did stand in goal during Klopp's debut as national coach against the Netherlands, but has not been in the squad since. Urbig's convincing performances could give him the chance to establish himself as a challenger for the first‑choice goalkeeper position.

Against Greece Urbig showed great composure and reacted already in the second minute with a spectacular save from a Georgios Masouras header. His confident performance underscores that he is not just a one‑off lucky break, but a serious candidate for the future of the German goalkeeping pool.