Soccer <\/p>\n
Lennart Karl could miss the World Cup for Germany after suffering an injury that “does not look good”, according to Julian Nagelsmann.<\/p>\n
Karl was a somewhat surprising inclusion in Nagelsmann’s squad, despite an impressive breakthrough season for Bayern Munich in 2025-26.<\/p>\n
He also caught the eye in Germany’s last friendly, a 4-0 win over Finland, getting an assist for their second goal when he set up Deniz Undav.<\/p>\n
The youngster registered 16 goal involvements in 39 games for Bayern in all competitions (nine goals, seven assists), helping the team to the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double.<\/p>\n
However, Karl, who has three Germany caps to date, suffered an injury in training on Friday during preparations for their friendly against the United States.<\/p>\n
And Nagelsmann admitted the 20-year-old’s tournament could already be over.<\/p>\n
“Lenny was injured,” he said in Friday’s press conference. “We have to see what it is.<\/p>\n
“It does not look good.<\/p>\n
“We will go to the hospital to get scans calmly. Don’t start driving after him. Leave him alone. You’ll get the news. He needs to process the situation himself.<\/p>\n
“We need a diagnosis first, and we will inform you whether we can hopefully continue with him or nominate someone else.”<\/p>\n
\n<\/blockquote>\nTeams can name replacements due to injury up to 24 hours before their World Cup opener, with Germany beginning their tournament against Curacao on June 14.<\/p>\n
Another injury concern is Manuel Neuer, who has come out of international retirement to appear at the tournament. He missed the end of Bayern’s season with a calf injury and has been training individually.<\/p>\n
Nagelsmann remains confident the goalkeeper will be fit for their opening match in Group E but insists the match against the USA comes too soon for him.<\/p>\n
“He’s doing well; he’s on his way to peak fitness,” Nagelsmann said of Neuer.<\/p>\n
“Nevertheless, we won’t take any risks, but rather give the team more time to get back to normal and increase the likelihood that the tournament goes perfectly and nothing goes wrong.<\/p>\n
“His calf has had a few injuries this year. That’s why we decided not to take any risks yet. He’ll join team training next week.<\/p>\n
“When Manu got injured, we already knew it was possible it would happen the way it did. If I had a goalkeeper who was 22 years old, I would have more problems with the situation. Manu isn’t someone who needs a lot of test matches to get into a rhythm.”<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n