Nomination on Thursday
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Lennart Karl watched the Munich football masterpiece in the Champions League in Paris from the front row on the Bayern bench. The next big step on the pitch could quickly follow in the brilliant career of the highly talented teenager – in the national team jersey. Before naming his final squad for the World Cup qualification, national coach Julian Nagelsmann weighs up all the arguments as to whether he should call up the 17-year-old from Munich for the first time – to get a breath of fresh air for really big football tasks.
Karl is not alone on the DFB list. The young Cologne striker Said El Mala (19), the former Hanoverian Nicolò Tresoldi (21) and Leipzig’s Assan Ouédraogo (19) also stood out for their leaps in performance this season. However, El Mala suffered an injury in training on Wednesday and a diagnosis is pending.
Nagelsmann is not a fan of youth madness. “I don’t think much of the extremely early hype,” he said after the 1-0 win in Northern Ireland in October. Otherwise there would be a “fun fair” among the young professionals. But at the same time, the national coach wants to check options and set incentive points for the 2026 World Cup. The decision on a nomination may only be made shortly before the squad is published for the upcoming games in Luxembourg and against Slovakia this Thursday (1 p.m.).
An appointment of super-talented people would have a very special signaling effect. “We always try to keep an eye on the young talents,” assured Nagelsmann. But he also demanded that certain something. “We also have a large pool in the senior national team, so you clearly have to be better.”
Long-term injuries around Musiala allow for free squad positions
DFB captain Joshua Kimmich (30) stated that his career in the national jersey is moving faster today than when he made his debut almost ten years ago. Goalkeeping legend Oliver Kahn and record national player Lothar Matthäus, who became European champion in 1980 at the age of 19, warned against inviting people too early.
Karl made his professional debut for Bayern at the Club World Cup in the summer in a 10-0 win against Auckland City in the USA, the dream destination for the coming summer. This season, the teen star, who is advised by former national team captain Michael Ballack, has made twelve excellent appearances and two wonderful goals.
Nagelsmann publishes his personnel list via the DFB’s social media channels. And since the long-term injured Marc-André ter Stegen (33), Antonio Rüdiger (32), Kai Havertz (26), Niclas Füllkrug (32) and Karl’s teammate Jamal Musiala (22) will still be missing, there are squad places available to try out. According to reports, Leroy Sané (29) also has a good chance of returning after he was ignored twice by Nagelsmann after his move to Galatasaray.
If Karl were to play for an international match, he would become the youngest national player in 115 years and replace the legendary Uwe Seeler in third place in the DFB age ranking. After his magic goals in the Champions League against Bruges and the league against Borussia Mönchengladbach, the call quickly became loud that someone like that could currently help the DFB team.
For Nagelsmann, the primary concern at the end of the year is of course the World Cup ticket. Two wins on November 14th in Luxembourg and three days later in Leipzig against Slovakia – and Germany is guaranteed to take part in the 2026 finals in the USA, Mexico and Canada. But the national coach is already thinking ahead to summer.
Nagelsmann likes to add fresh talent to the squad to see how the potential challengers present themselves among the established players. The mixture then does it. Under no circumstances should they act fearfully, submissively, but still adapted to the team structure. Nagelsmann looks closely and makes clear judgments.
Example Collins: Early DFB nomination also presents dangers
An early nomination also presents dangers. Nnamdi Collins (21) from Eintracht Frankfurt was promoted to the U21 starting eleven by Nagelsmann for the U21 qualifying opener in Slovakia and failed in the 2-0 defeat in Bratislava. At the last World Cup in 2022, Youssoufa Moukoko was the teenage star as a 17-year-old. The early DFB call-up did not serve as a career booster for the former Dortmund player. He now plays for FC Copenhagen.
By the way, Karl could already play in a World Cup. At the current U17 tournament in Qatar. However, the performance level of his peers is no longer his benchmark. FC Bayern had already told the DFB in the spring that Karl would be scheduled for the professional squad and should no longer play with the juniors – Nagelsmann could now be the beneficiary.