Lennart Karl has gone to hospital to undergo tests following an injury that could see him miss the World Cup, according to Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann.
Karl, 18, sustained the injury while training with his international team-mates in Illinois on Friday (June 5) before their final pre-tournament friendly against the United States on Saturday.
The Bayern Munich teenager was taken to hospital for scans, with Nagelsmann admitting that depending on the severity of the injury, he may have to be replaced in the national team selection less than two weeks before their opener on June 14.
“Unfortunately, Lenni picked up an injury in training today,” the Germany manager said, per the Bundesliga website. “We’ll have to wait and see what the outcome is. To be honest, it didn’t look particularly good. But I’d ask you to be a little patient — we’re heading to the hospital now to get some scans done.
“He first needs some time to process the situation himself, and so do we, before we decide what to do next. We need a diagnosis for that. Once we have it, we’ll update you and then see whether, hopefully, he can continue with us at the tournament or whether we’ll need to call up a replacement. But we’ll take it one step at a time.”
Karl had a breakthrough season for Bayern in the 2025-26 campaign, scoring nine goals and providing eight assists over 40 games. One of the most exciting attacking talents in European football, Karl, who only turned 18 in February, played a key role in helping Bayern win the Bundesliga as well as the German Cup and German Super Cup.
A muscle fibre tear in the back of his right thigh in April saw him miss several games towards the end of last season, but he did feature in Bayern’s final two league games of the season and was named in Germany’s World Cup squad on May 21.
Karl, the youngest member of the squad, has made just three senior appearances for the side, with his first start coming in the 4-0 friendly victory over Finland on May 31.
Germany, drawn into Group E, face Curacao on June 14, before the Ivory Coast on June 20 and Ecuador five days later on June 25.
How big of a blow could this be?
Analysis by German football writer Sebastian Stafford-Bloor
This would be especially cruel given that, recently, Julian Nagelsmann has indicated that Karl had hopes of starting at this World Cup. In the last warm-up game, the 4-0 victory over Finland in Mainz, the Bayern wunderkind had lined up alongside Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala, occupying one of the three attacking midfield positions behind Deniz Undav. In the game itself, he performed well, doing himself little harm ahead of the first game against Curacao.
Karl is unique within the context of German football, both in how he plays and in his standing with a public that have already anointed him. Leroy Sane — another left footer — would be the preferred option on the right side of Germany’s attack if this injury proves serious and the tactical disruption would be minimal; Sane is an experienced international, intermittently capable of being a match-winner.
In line to replace Karl in the squad would likely be Said El Mala, another precocious teenager. El Mala has just completed his first season at Bundesliga level with newly-promoted Koln. Typically playing from the left, he established himself as fast, thrusting inside forward and impressed sufficiently to attract a recent bid from the Premier League’s Brentford. He declined that offer, but there will likely be more to come this summer, especially if he now gets to perform on the global stage.
But this would still weaken Germany. Karl and El Mala are not the same calibre of player. Equally, while Sane plays the game in a similar way, he has little of Karl’s carefree expression or fearless ambition and there is no question that Nagelsmann would be finding himself without an invaluable x-factor.
