Lennart Karl, an 18-year-old forward who had started Germany’s 4-0 friendly win over Finland on Sunday, has been ruled out of the 2026 World Cup after suffering a thigh injury in Germany’s final training session before the warm-up match against the United States; RB Leipzig’s Assan Ouedraogo has been called up to replace him.
Searches for Germany FC surged after the late change to Julian Nagelsmann’s squad, driven by the timing: the injury came immediately before Germany’s final pre-tournament fixture and less than two weeks before the team opens the World Cup on 14 June.
Karl had featured in Sunday’s 4-0 victory over Finland and set up one of the goals, and he is noted for helping Bayern Munich win the Bundesliga last season—details that made his absence from the tournament all the more unexpected. Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann spoke for a team and a country when he said, "I feel incredibly sorry for Lenny," and added, "It's a huge shock for him and all of us that he's missing the World Cup."
The mismatch between appearances on the pitch and availability off it is stark: Karl went from starting a friendly and contributing an assist to being withdrawn from the squad after a training injury tied to the final session before the United States warm-up. Nagelsmann underlined how painful the break was for the squad — "We would have loved to have him on the team" — while also explaining the replacement: "With Assan Ouedraogo, we're now getting a player who, like Lenny, had a fantastic start with us." He insisted of the Leipzig forward, "He's also highly talented and we expect him to play with courage and freedom."
The practical impact is immediate. Germany will play the United States in its last match before the tournament begins, then open Group E against Curacao on 14 June, face Ivory Coast on 20 June and Ecuador on 25 June. Ouedraogo enters the squad knowing he is stepping into a slot vacated at the eleventh hour, and Nagelsmann’s words framed the call-up as both consolation and a tactical necessity.
The question that remains most consequential for Germany—and for Karl’s own development—is medical: how serious is the thigh injury and how long his recovery will take. That uncertainty will determine whether this is a brief setback in a career that already includes a Bundesliga title or the start of a longer absence from international tournaments.
