In comparison to the rather reserved Löw, Jürgen Klopp would certainly represent a change of style. Klopp has won the Premier League and the Champions League with Liverpool, where his contract runs until 2024. He has distanced himself from speculation about the Germany job, but with his team currently in crisis, perhaps the 53-year-old would like a new challenge?

If continuity is what the German FA are after, then Hansi Flick is their man. The current European and world champion Bayern Munich head coach spent eight years as Löw's assistant, and played a key role in Germany's 2014 World Cup triumph. Flick is highly respected by his players, but it's unlikely that Bayern would let him leave easily - even if he wanted to.

The "football professor" Ralf Rangnick was the sporting brains behind RB Leipzig and is considered a tactical pioneer. His competence is beyond doubt and he is currently out of work, but as always with Rangnick, the conditions have to be right. The 62-year-old likes to work with blank slates and demands full control. Germany sporting director Oliver Bierhoff would have to take a back seat.

Former Bundesliga striker Stefan Kuntz (58) has been in charge of Germany's under-21s since 2016 and won the U21 Euros in 2017, to add to his senior European Championship title with Germany as a player in 1996. The option of promoting from within will certainly be on the table for the German FA, although probably only if they can't get a higher-profile candidate first.

Under-18s, under-19s, under-21s, Olympic team, women's team, sporting director - you name it and Horst Hrubesch has probably done it. The 69-year-old knows the German FA inside out, but he's also retired on several occasions before jumping back into action. Would the former Hamburg striker come back again if he were offered the very top job?

Unconventional, oddly endearing but a master of his craft, Christian Streich is often mentioned when it comes to Joachim Löw's potential successors. The 55-year-old is the Bundesliga's longest-serving coach, having pulled the strings at Freiburg since 2012. Streich would have the skill, experience, longevity and personality for the top job - but he's just signed a contract extension with Freiburg.

He won the World Cup as a player, so why not as a coach? Franz Beckenbauer famously managed it, but Lothar Matthäus is a much more divisive figure. Some view him as a tactical expert, others as an overrated talking head. His punditry on Sky TV every weekend makes both opinions understandable, to be honest. But the 59-year-old has ruled himself out of the job anyway.

Nevermind a new "Bundestrainer" to replace Joachim Löw, what about a "Bundestrainerin"? Silvia Neid won the World Cup and the European Championships with Germany's women and was voted FIFA coach of the year on three occasions. The 56-year-old is currently head of scouting at the German FA, but would the bosses be brave and progressive enough to hire a female coach for the top job?

In March 2020, Uruguay's football association laid off its longtime first team coach Oscar Tabarez, 73, as it struggles financially amid the coronavirus crisis. His removal made Germany coach Joachim Löw, whose tenure began three months after Tabarez's in 2006, the longest-serving coach in international football.

Joachim Löw's career as a player was anything but spectacular. In his 52 Bundesliga matches as a striker for Stuttgart, Eintracht Frankfurt and Karlsruhe, the native of southwestern Germany found the back of the net just seven times. Much of his time as a player was spent at then-second division side Freiburg.

Even before he hung up his boots, Joachim Löw turned his hand to coaching, first as a youth coach at Swiss outfit FC Winterthur, where he was still playing in 1994. In 1995 he broke into the Bundesliga as co-coach at his former club Stuttgart, before being named head coach a year later. Here he is seen speaking to Thomas Schneider, who would later become his assistant with the national team.

Despite winning the German Cup with Stuttgart in 1997, Löw was let go by the Swabians. In the summer of 1998 he took a job with Istanbul side Fenerbahce and led them to a third-place finish. Still, he would only last a year at the club.

After spells at Karlsruhe, Adanaspor and Innsbruck, Löw moved on to Austria Vienna, in the summer of 2003. This too would turn out to be a short interlude, as he was sacked in March, despite the club occupying first place in the table. Without him, Austria would finish second in the league by a single point.

After Rudi Völler resigned as coach of the German national team, another former Germany striker, Jürgen Klinsmann, took over. One of Klinsmann's first moves as Germany coach was to appoint Löw as his assistant.

Klinsmann and Löw led Germany into the 2006 World Cup on home soil, where they lost to Italy in the semifinals. The "home" World Cup created a vibrant atmosphere all over Germany, where public viewing of games first took place on a large scale. Here Klinsmann and Löw are flanked by goalkeeping coach Andreas Köpke and manager Oliver Bierhoff at a post-tournament event in Berlin.

After succeeding Klinsmann as head coach, Löw's first major tournament in charge was Euro 2008. He led Germany to the final in Vienna, but they were defeated 1-0 by Spain.

At his first World Cup as head coach, Joachim Löw's young squad cruised by England (4-1) in the round of 16 and crushed Argentina (4-0) in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, though, Germany ran into the more experienced Spanish side, who prevailed 1-0. Here Löw is seen congratulating a young Mesut Özil during the England match.

Joachim Löw's men got off to a perfect start to Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine, winning all three of their group-stage matches, before beating Greece 4-2 in their quarterfinal: It was Germany's 15th consecutive win, setting a new world record. However, there would be no happy ending, as Germany fell 2-1 to bogey side, Italy.

It all came together for Löw in 2014. Germany beat Portugal and the US, while drawing with Ghana to progress from the group stage. They needed extra time to beat Algeria in the round of 16 and struggled past France 1-0. But they crushed hosts Brazil 7-1. The final, against Argentina, also went to extra time, before Mario Götze scored the winner to give Germany a 1-0 win — and the World Cup.

Löw's next major tournament was Euro 2016, just next door in France. Germany advanced to the knockout stage with two wins and a draw before beating Slovakia and Italy to set up a semifinal showdown against the hosts in Marseille. Germany came up short though, falling 2-0 to France.

Germany won their first Confederations Cup under Joachim Löw in 2017. It was far from Germany's best side that turned out in Russia, with Löw choosing to rest several first-string players in ancipation of the World Cup 12 months later. Germany beat Chile 1-0 in the final thanks to a goal from Lars Stindl in the 20th minute. Germany's future looked very bright indeed.

With a full-strength squad, Germany were regarded as one of the favorites heading into the 2018 World Cup in Russia. But they looked a shadow of their former selves, losing to Mexico and South Korea and finishing bottom of their group. Despite the poor showing, Löw said he intended to fulfill his contract, which the German football association (DFB) extended until 2022 before the tournament.

After the disaster in Russia, Löw acknowledged errors. He wrongly believed that he could get into the knockout rounds playing possession-based football. "It was almost arrogant," Löw said in his analysis afterwards. He announced a generation change in the team and said he would be dropping Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels und Thomas Müller from the squad.

Germany comfortably qualified for Euro 2020, a tournament that was postponed a year due to COVID-19. Löw appeared to slowly be moving this new Germany team in the right direction, until they suffered a 6-0 loss to Spain in the Nations League. It was the second highest defeat in Germany's football history. "It was a dark day," said Löw afterwards as pressure began to mount.

On March 9, Löw announced that he would be stepping down as head coach following the 2021 European Championships. He spoke of his "pride and gratitude" at having represented Germany for almost 17 years and insisted his motivation ahead of the Euros remains "unbroken." DFB president Fritz Keller expressed his "great respect" for Löw's decision, which gives the DFB time to identify a successor.