Adam Karabec
Czech footballer (born 2003)
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Adam Karabec (born 2 July 2003) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Ligue 1 club Lyon, on loan from Sparta Prague, and the Czech Republic national team. He was included in The Guardian's "Next Generation" list for 2020.[1]
|
Karabec in 2025 with Hamburger SV | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 2 July 2003 | ||
| Place of birth | Prague, Czech Republic | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | |||
| Team information | |||
Current team |
Lyon (on loan from Sparta Prague) | ||
| Number | 7 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2009–2016 | Bohemians 1905 | ||
| 2016–2020 | Sparta Prague | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2019– | Sparta Prague | 107 | (12) |
| 2022–2023 | → Sparta Prague B | 5 | (0) |
| 2024–2025 | → Hamburger SV (loan) | 31 | (3) |
| 2025– | → Lyon (loan) | 19 | (1) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2017–2018 | Czech Republic U15 | 10 | (3) |
| 2018–2019 | Czech Republic U16 | 14 | (3) |
| 2019–2020 | Czech Republic U19 | 8 | (0) |
| 2020– | Czech Republic U21 | 29 | (5) |
| 2025– | Czech Republic | 4 | (2) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 19:13, 15 March 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 17 November 2025 | |||
Club career
After a long spell in the youth academy of Bohemians 1905, which he had joined at the age of six, in 2016 Karabec gained a move to fellow Prague-based club Sparta Prague and began making it through the Letenští's youth teams. By the beginning of the 2019–20 season, Karabec was already a member of Sparta's under-19 squad, despite being only sixteen. In July 2019, he was named "Player of the Tournament" in the CEE Cup.[2] By September 2019, he had also begun to play for the reserve team in their regional group of the national third division.
It took less than five months to the midfielder to impress the then head coach Václav Jílek and gain a call-up to join the first team. Karabec subsequently made his professional debut on 23 February 2020, coming on as a replacement for David Moberg Karlsson at the 88th minute of his side's 1–0 loss against Sigma Olomuc. After collecting other three appearances as a substitute and scoring his first goal in a 4–1 win against Karviná, he also made his first start on 10 June 2020, as he featured in Sparta's 2–0 win against Opava and was replaced by Georges Mandjeck at the 76th minute.[3]
On 4 July 2024, Karabec joined German 2. Bundesliga club Hamburger SV on a loan with option to make the move permanent.[4] On 12 August 2025, he joined Ligue 1 club Lyon on a one-year loan deal with an option to make transfer permanent.[5] Later that month, on 23 August, he scored his first goal in a 3–0 victory over Metz.[6]
International career
A youth international for Czech Republic at several levels, in September 2020, Karabec received his first call-up both by the Under-21 and the senior national teams.[7]
On 2 September 2020, he made his debut for the former squad against San Marino U21, registering an assist for Václav Drchal's opener which ended up in a 6–0 victory for the Czechs.[citation needed] Exactly one week later, Karabec was featured on the bench in the senior team's UEFA Nations League match against Scotland.[citation needed]
Karabec played for the Czech Republic in the UEFA European Under-21 championships in 2021, 2023 and 2025, and thus became the first Czech player to appear in three UEFA European Under-21 championships.[8] On 8 September 2025, he debuted for the Czech Republic national football team in a 1–1 friendly draw against Saudi Arabia.[9]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 15 March 2026[10]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Sparta Prague | 2019–20 | Czech First League | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 10 | 1 | |
| 2020–21 | 23 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5[a] | 0 | 31 | 3 | ||
| 2021–22 | 30 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 8[b] | 0 | 42 | 2 | ||
| 2022–23 | 23 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 28 | 2 | ||
| 2023–24 | 21 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7[a] | 0 | 30 | 5 | ||
| Total | 107 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 22 | 0 | 141 | 13 | ||
| Sparta Prague B | 2022–23 | Czech National Football League | 5 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 0 | ||
| Hamburger SV (loan) | 2024–25 | 2. Bundesliga | 31 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | 33 | 3 | |
| Lyon (loan) | 2025–26 | Ligue 1 | 19 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 9[a] | 2 | 32 | 3 |
| Career total | 163 | 16 | 18 | 1 | 31 | 2 | 211 | 19 | ||
- Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, three appearances in UEFA Europa League, two appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
- Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
International
- As of match played 17 November 2025
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Czech Republic | 2025 | 4 | 2 |
| Total | 4 | 2 | |
Scores and results list the Czech Republic's goal tally first.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 12 October 2025 | Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands |  Faroe Islands | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2. | 17 November 2025 | Andrův stadion, Olomouc, Czech Republic |  Gibraltar | 4–0 | 6–0 | |
Honours
Sparta Prague
Individual
