The jewel of the German team Lennart Karl18 years old, who suffered an injury to his left thigh during training on Friday (5), is out of the 2026 World Cup in North America (June 11 to July 19) and was substituted by Assan Ouédraogo.
“‘Lenny’ tore a muscle fiber today, during the last training session, and is out due to the injury. We wish him a good recovery. We are thinking of you,” declared the German Football Association (DFB) on social media.
Highlight of this season for Bayern MunichKarl quickly established himself in the player rotation of the two-time German champion team. He made his debut for the German national team in March and started for the first time in a friendly against Finland (4-0) on Sunday in Mainz, where he impressed by providing an assist.
To make up for his absence, coach Julian Nagelsmann called up Assan Ouédraogo. THE RB Leipzig attacking midfielder20, made his only appearance for Germany last November, against Slovakia, scoring his first goal in the 6-0 victory that secured qualification for the World Cup.
“With Assan Ouédraogo, we now have a player who, like ‘Lenny’, has had a fantastic start with us. He is also very talented and needs to play here with courage and lightness,” commented Nagelsmann, as quoted by the DFB.
After suffering an injury to his left knee shortly after his first call-up, Ouédraogo was sidelined until the end of March. The ‘Mannschaft’ faces the United States this Saturday (6), in Chicago, at 3:30 pm (Brasília time)) in their last preparatory friendly before the World Cup.
Nagelsmann also confirmed that goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who retired from the national team with a view to the 2026 World Cup, will not play against the USA, although he expects to be able to count on him for Germany’s World Cup debut, against Curaçao, on June 14, in Houston.
“At his age, he doesn’t need a preparation phase,” said the coach. “He knows how to deal with high-pressure situations and is reaching peak fitness. However, we don’t want to take any risks tomorrow.”
List of Germany players:
Goalkeepers (3): Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Alexander Nübel (Stuttgart);
Defensive players (12): Waldemar Anton (Borussia Dortmund), Nathaniel Brown (Eintracht Frankfurt), Pascal Gross (Brighton/ENG), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Felix Nmecha (Borussia Dortmund), Aleksandar Pavlovic (Bayern Munich), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid/ESP), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Angelo Stiller (Stuttgart), Jonathan Tah (Bayern Munich), Malick Thiaw (Newcastle/ING);
Offensive players (13): Nadiem Amiri (Mainz), Maximilian Beier (Borussia Dortmund), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich), Kai Havertz (Arsenal/ING), Jamie Leweling (Stuttgart), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Assan Ouédraogo (RB Leipzig), Leroy Sané (Galatasaray/TUR), Deniz Undav (Stuttgart), Florian Wirtz (Liverpool/ING), Nick Woltemade (Newcastle/ENG);
Note: goalkeeper Jonas Urbig (Bayern Munich) is not on the list, but will make the trip with the German team.
