Assan Ouedraogo is returning to FC Schalke 04 earlier than expected. But the reason is causing the second division club concern. This is the current situation.

The German U17 national team will have to make do without Assan Ouedraogo at the World Cup in Indonesia. The midfielder from second division club FC Schalke 04 has left the team due to an ankle injury. The Gelsenkirchen side made the announcement on Thursday.

In the group match against New Zealand (3:1) on Wednesday, Ouedraogo was substituted shortly before half-time after a hard foul by his opponent. Ouedraogo was still in pain a day later, which is why the DFB officials decided to have an image taken in hospital.

This showed on Thursday evening that the 17-year-old’s injury was worse than initially diagnosed. The club said that the images had been sent to Schalke. After his return on Sunday (November 19), further examinations by a team doctor from the Royal Blues will follow in Gelsenkirchen.

There were already injury concerns for Ouédraogo at Schalke before the tournament, as he had missed the last three competitive matches due to a persistent thigh injury. Although his club had classified him as “not fit to play” for the Elversberg game last Friday, Ouédraogo made a brief appearance two days later at the U17 World Cup in Germany’s opening 3-1 win over Mexico.

You can read what sports director André Hechelmann had to say after Schalke’s test match against Belgian second division side Maasmechelen here at WAZ+.

The German team coached by Christian Wück advanced to the round of 16 early thanks to their victory against the Oceania champions. They will play Venezuela in the group stage on Saturday. Whether Ouedraogo could return to the team at a later date was initially open – and has now been settled.