Germany's Young Star Lennart Karl May Miss World Cup After Injury In Training

Germany's 18-year-old midfielder Lennart Karl whitethorn miss the World Cup aft helium was sent to the infirmary for scans pursuing an unspecified wounded successful grooming connected Friday.

Karl is considered 1 of the apical young players successful immoderate World Cup squad aft a breakout play with Bayern Munich, for which helium became the club's youngest ever goal-scorer successful the Champions League.

"Unfortunately Lenni injured himself contiguous successful training. We request to hold connected what happens with that and to beryllium honest, it didn’t look truthful good," Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann said up of his team's last World Cup tune-up against the United States connected Saturday.

"He needs to process the situation, we bash too, and we’ll spot what we do. We request a diagnosis for that and past we'll pass you. Then we’ll spot if we tin hopefully support going with him for the tourney oregon if I request to nominate a replacement."

World Cup rules let Nagelsmann to telephone up a replacement subordinate successful cases of "serious wounded oregon illness" until 24 hours earlier the kickoff of Germany's opening game. That's June 14 against World Cup newcomer Curacao.

Karl made his debut for Germany successful March to proceed a accelerated emergence to prominence and has played 3 games for the nationalist team, including a cardinal relation arsenic a starter successful past week's 4-0 triumph implicit Finland.

Nagelsmann besides said connected Friday helium would not hazard 40-year-old goalkeeper Manuel Neuer against the U.S. due to the fact that of continuing concerns implicit a calf wounded helium picked up astatine Bayern past month.

That means Neuer volition spell into the World Cup having not played for Germany successful astir 2 years. He retired from the nationalist squad aft the 2024 European Championship but agreed to a callback past month.

Oliver Baumann has been Germany's archetypal prime for overmuch of the clip Neuer was distant and besides started against Finland past week.

Reporting by The Associated Press.