Reason why Germany included extra player in official World Cup squad photo revealed
Fans spotted that Germany included an extra player in their official World Cup squad photo and the reason behind the move has emerged.
Germany had to make a late change to their World Cup squad after Bayern Munich starlet Lennart Karl was ruled of the tournament with an injury suffered in training.
That blow gave a dream opportunity to 20-year-old RB Leipzig prospect Assan Ouedraogo, who scored on his debut against Slovakia in his only appearance to date in November.
Ouedraogo joined Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala, Kai Havertz and Antonio Rudiger in a squad photo which featured a total of 27 players as well as the rest of the backroom staff.
Advert
However, it was not a mistake on the part of Die Mannschaft as it's emerged that goalkeeper Jonas Urbig was included despite not being in the squad.
Urbig, who played 14 times as Bayern won the Bundesliga, received his first senior call-up to the Germany national team but did not make his debut after suffering an injury to his right knee joint.
READ MORE: FIFA offers fans never-before-seen World Cup perk for $79 but it could go horribly wrong
He was left out of the 26-man squad but has still got an important role to play in the eyes of Julian Nagelsmann.
The 22-year-old has travelled with Germany to their training base in Winston-Salem, North Carolina to be a training goalkeeper.
The move follows on from a decision Thomas Tuchel made with England, bringing in Brighton's Jason Steele for a similar role.
Germany goalkeeping situation explained ahead of World Cup
Throughout qualifying, Hoffenheim's Oliver Baumann was the man between the sticks for Germany.
He was expected to be first choice for his first ever World Cup but Nagelsmann elected to bring Manuel Neuer back into the fold after he reversed his retirement from international football at the age of 40.
Neuer called time on his career after Euro 2024 on home soil but performed a u-turn.
A calf injury ruled Neuer out of the warm up friendly fixtures but after a period training alone, he has returned to full team training ahead of the opening fixture against Curacao.
It will be Neuer's fifth World Cup after appearances in 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022 and should he pay against Curacao, he will become Germany's oldest ever player at a major tournament.
Urbig, his understudy at Bayern, is not eligible to play but Alexander Nubel of Stuttgart is the third-choice for Germany.
Topics: Germany, Football World Cup
Josh Lawless