Germany’s 18-year-old midfielder Lennart Karl will miss the World Cup after suffering an injury in training on Friday.
The German Football Association (DFB) said that Karl had suffered a torn muscle and will be replaced in the squad by RB Leipzig’s 20-year-old midfielder Assan Ouédraogo.
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World Cup rules allow Nagelsmann to call up a replacement player in cases of “serious injury or illness” until 24 hours before the kickoff of Germany’s opening game, which is on June 14 against World Cup newcomer Curaçao.
The injury came in Germany’s final training session ahead of their last World Cup tune-up against the United States in Chicago on Saturday.
“Unfortunately Lenni injured himself today in training. We need to wait on what happens with that and to be honest, it didn’t look so good,” Nagelsmann said in a news conference earlier in the day.
Karl is considered one of the top young players in any World Cup squad after a breakout season with Bayern Munich, for whom he became the club’s youngest ever goal-scorer in the Champions League.
He made his debut for Germany in March to continue a rapid rise to prominence and has played three games for the national team, including a key role as a starter in last week’s 4-0 win over Finland.
Nagelsmann also said on Friday he would not risk 40-year-old goalkeeper Manuel Neuer against the U.S. because of continuing concerns over a calf injury he picked up at Bayern last month.
That means Neuer will go into the World Cup having not played for Germany in almost two years. He retired from the national team after the 2024 European Championship but agreed to a recall last month.
Oliver Baumann has been Germany’s first choice for much of the time Neuer was away and also started against Finland last week.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
