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18-year-old German midfielder Lennart Karl could miss the World Cup after he was sent to hospital for examination following an unspecified injury in training on Friday.
Karl is considered one of the best young players on any World Cup team after a great season with Bayern Munich, where he became the club’s youngest goalscorer in the Champions League.
“Unfortunately, Lenni got injured today in training. We have to wait and see what happens with that and, to be honest, it didn’t look that good,” German coach Julian Nagelsmann said ahead of his team’s final World Cup warm-up match against the United States on Saturday.
“He needs to process the situation, so do we, and we’ll see what we do. We need a diagnosis for that and then we’ll let you know. Then we’ll see if we can continue with him during the tournament or if I need to nominate a replacement.”
World Cup rules allow Nagelsmann to call up a replacement player in cases of “serious injury or illness” up to 24 hours before the start of Germany’s opening match. That will be on June 14 against World Cup newcomer Curacao.
Karl made his debut for Germany in March to continue his rapid rise to prominence and has made three appearances for the national team, including a key starting role in last week’s 4-0 win over Finland.
Nagelsmann also said on Friday that he would not risk goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, 40, against the United States due to continued concerns over a calf injury he suffered at Bayern last month.
That means Neuer will go to the World Cup without playing for Germany in almost two years. He retired from the national team after Euro 2024, but accepted his retirement last month.
Oliver Baumann has been Germany’s first choice for much of Neuer’s time away and also started against Finland last week.
Information from The Associated Press.
