He is a major hope for the World Cup: the superstar is missing from Germany’s squad for the friendlies at the end of March

Due to Musiala’s current injury problems, it was decided, in consultation with FCB and the medical teams involved, not to select the 23-year-old. “He has now completed a week of rehabilitation. Vincent (Bayern coach Vincent Kompany; editor’s note) and Julian (Nagelsmann) are also in contact. He is injured; he will not be travelling to join the national team, but will focus on getting fit. Hopefully, after the international break, he will be fit again to play with us in April and get himself into World Cup shape,” Eberl told DAZN.

This is purely a precautionary measure, after Musiala felt a strain in his left ankle – which he injured in the summer – during the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 at Atalanta Bergamo (6-1) last week, and consequently missed Saturday’s Bundesliga match against Bayer Leverkusen (1-1) as well as Wednesday evening’s return leg.

Furthermore, Musiala is also expected to miss Saturday’s final match before the international break against Union Berlin. Although he will have time to regain top form before the World Cup, the omission is rather frustrating for both Musiala and Nagelsmann.

After all, the national team manager had emphasised in a kicker interview at the start of March that he was determined to have the Bayern star, as well as Kai Havertz (Arsenal), who has also been sidelined with a long-term injury, in the squad for the March internationals. It would be “advisable for them to return in March, because it feels like they’ve been away for an eternity. “I haven’t seen Jamal in the national team for over ten months, and Kai for even longer,” explained Nagelsmann. “They only know some of the things we’ve done since then in theory, from conversations with me. So it’s certainly valuable that they’re back, because otherwise it will eventually become difficult for them to find their rhythm within the national team.”

In contrast to Musiala, his Bayern teammate Lennart Karl is set to feature in the upcoming internationals and will be called up to the senior national team for the first time. The DFB side play Switzerland in Basel on 27 March and face Ghana in Stuttgart three days later. Nagelsmann will announce the squad on Thursday afternoon.

Musiala suffered a fibula fracture at the Club World Cup last summer and was sidelined for a good six months afterwards. Bayern had been carefully bringing the technically gifted player back into the fold since mid-January, and Musiala had already made the starting line-up on a few occasions in the meantime. The original plan was to have the international back in top form for the Champions League round of 16, but that did not materialise.

Instead, Musiala suffered a frustrating setback in Bergamo. He is now set to focus entirely on his recovery during the international break and use his absence from the DFB squad to make rapid physical progress. At best, FCB manager Vincent Kompany will be able to call upon a fit Musiala again for the highly likely Champions League quarter-finals against Real Madrid in April.

The Bayern star played his most recent of a total of 40 international matches just under a year ago. At the end of March 2025, he scored a very special goal in the 3-3 draw against Italy in the Nations League quarter-finals, when he redirected a corner from Joshua Kimmich – taken at lightning speed thanks to an alert ball boy – into the empty Italian net.

Musiala will now only return to the DFB squad for the final World Cup preparations. A friendly against Finland awaits at the end of May, shortly before the team’s departure, and Germany will then face co-hosts the USA in a friendly at the start of June. The tournament kicks off for Nagelsmann’s side on 14 June with their first group match against Curaçao – by then, Musiala is expected to be causing havoc in the DFB team’s attacking midfield, ideally alongside Liverpool’s Florian Wirtz.