Nico Schlotterbeck was ruled out of the World Cup on Tuesday 23 June after a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan confirmed a torn ligament in his left ankle, an injury expected to keep him out for months 1. Schlotterbeck is a first-choice centre-back for Germany, the four-time world champions, and one half of a defensive partnership drilled across a two-year qualifying campaign.
He was hurt in Germany's 2-1 win over Cote d'Ivoire on 20 June , the result that confirmed Germany's place in the round of 32 . Germany are through, but lose a defender at the exact point the tournament turns knockout, and whoever steps in will partner an unfamiliar colleague against a side they cannot afford to lose to.
The injury sits inside an attrition thread running through the oldest World Cup field on record, alongside the calf strains that have troubled Neymar and Christian Pulisic. An expanded 104-match schedule lengthens the exposure, and a centre-back lost to a single tackle is the kind of casualty no amount of squad depth fully covers when continuity is the asset that breaks.
