A massive blow for Julian Nagelsmann and the Germany World Cup squad.
With it now revealed that Nico Schlotterbeck has been ruled out of the remainder of the tournament after sustaining a medial ankle ligament injury.
The Borussia Dortmund star was forced to come off at half-time of Saturday’s win against Ivory Coast with Germany losing 1-0 at the time.
Deniz Undav scoring twice in the second half to turn it around.
Nico Schlotterbeck will stay in the United States with his international team-mates but will play no further part in the tournament, as he is set to be sidelined for several months.
The Borussia Dortmund defender started both of Germany’s games at the tournament and Real Madrid’s Antonio Rudiger looks set to partner Jonathan Tah in the centre of defence, Rudiger replaced Schlotterbeck on Saturday.
Germany next play Ecuador on Thursday in their third and final group game, having already advanced as group winners.
Interesting to see what team Julian Nagelsmann picks.
The win over Ivory Coast was far from convincing and now other players look set to get a chance to impress for Germany against Ecuador ahead of the World Cup knockout stages.
Nick Woltemade and Malick Thiaw were both widely tipped to get time on the pitch on Thursday and now the Newcastle United defender has even more reason to try and catch the eye of Nagelsmann, with Schlotterbeck’s injury having pushed Thiaw up the pecking order.