{{Short description|Czech footballer (born 2003)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}} {{Infobox football biography |name = Adam Karabec |image = 2025-03-05 Adam Karabec HSV pic1.jpg |caption = Karabec in 2025 with Hamburger SV |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|2003|07|02|df=y}} |birth_place = Prague, Czech Republic |height = 1.86 m |position = Attacking midfielder, winger |currentclub = Lyon<br />(on loan from Sparta Prague) |clubnumber = 7 |youthyears1 = 2009–2016 |youthclubs1 = Bohemians 1905 |youthyears2 = 2016–2020 |youthclubs2 = Sparta Prague |years1 = 2019– |clubs1 = Sparta Prague |caps1 = 107 |goals1 = 12 |years2 = 2022–2023 |clubs2 = → Sparta Prague B |caps2 = 5 |goals2 = 0 |years3 = 2024–2025 |clubs3 = → Hamburger SV (loan) |caps3 = 31 |goals3 = 3 |years4 = 2025– |clubs4 = → Lyon (loan) |caps4 = 21 |goals4 = 1 |nationalyears1 = 2017–2018 |nationalteam1 = Czech Republic U15 |nationalcaps1 = 10 |nationalgoals1 = 3 |nationalyears2 = 2018–2019 |nationalteam2 = Czech Republic U16 |nationalcaps2 = 14 |nationalgoals2 = 3 |nationalyears3 = 2019–2020 |nationalteam3 = Czech Republic U19 |nationalcaps3 = 8 |nationalgoals3 = 0 |nationalyears4 = 2020– |nationalteam4 = Czech Republic U21 |nationalcaps4 = 29 |nationalgoals4 = 5 |nationalyears5 = 2025– |nationalteam5 = Czech Republic |nationalcaps5 = 5 |nationalgoals5 = 2 |pcupdate = 22:42, 19 April 2026 (UTC) |ntupdate = 26 March 2026 }}
'''Adam Karabec''' (born 2 July 2003) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for {{French football updater|Lyon}} 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2020/oct/08/next-generation-2020-60-of-the-best-young-talents-in-world-football |title=Next Generation 2020: 60 of the best young talents in world football |date=8 October 2020 |accessdate=9 October 2020 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>
== 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Awards {{!}} CEE Cup 2019 {{!}} U19 Football Tournament|url=https://www.ceecup.org/en/2019/ceny |access-date=30 November 2022 |website=CEE Cup}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|first=Jan|last=Vacek|date=10 June 2020|title=Karabec prvně v základu: Rozkoukával jsem se, ale nervozitu jsem odboural|url=https://isport.blesk.cz/clanek/fotbal-1-liga-rocnik-2019-20/380193/karabec-prvne-v-zakladu-rozkoukaval-jsem-se-ale-nervozitu-jsem-odboural.html|website=Blesk|publisher=Czech News Center|language=cs}}</ref>
On 4 July 2024, Karabec joined German 2. Bundesliga club Hamburger SV on a loan with option to make the move permanent.<ref>{{cite web|date=4 July 2024|title=HSV sign Karabec|url=https://www.hsv.de/en/hsv-sign-karabec|website=Hamburger SV|access-date=4 July 2024}}</ref> On 12 August 2025, he joined {{French football updater|Lyon}} club Lyon on a one-year loan deal with an option to make transfer permanent.<ref>{{cite web|first=David|last=Panuška|date=12 August 2025|title=Karabec opouští Spartu. Míří do slavného klubu, hrát bude se Šulcem|url=https://tn.nova.cz/sport/clanek/626379-karabec-opousti-spartu-miri-do-slavneho-klubu-hrat-bude-se-sulcem|website=TV Nova|access-date=12 August 2025|language=cs}}</ref> Later that month, on 23 August, he scored his first goal in a 3–0 victory over Metz.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2025/player-ratings-lyon-3-0-metz-les-gones-dominant-against-newly-promoted-les-grenats/ |title=Player Ratings {{!}} Lyon 3-0 Metz: Les Gones dominant against newly-promoted Les Grenats |website=Get Football News France |date=23 August 2025 }}</ref>
== 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.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Alessandro|last=Di Felice|title=Adam Karabec: Czech wonderkid being tipped to emulate Rosicky|url=https://www.goal.com/en/news/adam-karabec-czech-wonderkid-tipped-emulate-rosicky/6ayn88x6w4rf1h4yoteadvti5|website=Goal|date=20 July 2021|access-date=11 September 2025}}</ref>
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|date=September 2025}} Exactly one week later, Karabec was featured on the bench in the senior team's UEFA Nations League match against Scotland.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}
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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nominace jednadvacítky na Euro: 23 jmen, mezi náhradníky je brankář Stoppen|url=https://www.fotbal.cz/repre/nominace-jednadvacitky-na-euro-23-jmen-mezi-nahradniky-je-brankar-stoppen/a22457|publisher=Football Association of the Czech Republic|language=cs|access-date=5 June 2025}}</ref> On 8 September 2025, he debuted for the Czech Republic national football team in a 1–1 friendly draw against Saudi Arabia.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Hugo|last=Marx|title=Česko po nepřesvědčivém výkonu remizovalo se Saúdskou Arábií|url=https://www.seznamzpravy.cz/clanek/sport-cesko-po-nepresvedcivem-vykonu-remizovalo-se-saudskou-arabii-285608|website=Seznam Zprávy|date=9 September 2025|access-date=11 September 2025|language=cs}}</ref>
==Career statistics== ===Club=== {{updated|match played 19 April 2026}}<ref>{{Soccerway|adam-karabec/612345|accessdate=12 April 2020}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition |- !rowspan="2"|Club !rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="3"|League !colspan="2"|National cup !colspan="2"|Europe !colspan="2"|Total |- !Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals |- |rowspan="6"|Sparta Prague |2019–20 |rowspan="5"|Czech First League |10||1||0||0||colspan="2"|–||10||1 |- |2020–21 |23||3||3||0||5{{efn|name=UEL|Appearances in UEFA Europa League}}||0||31||3 |- |2021–22 |30||2||4||0||8{{efn|Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, three appearances in UEFA Europa League, two appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League}}||0||42||2 |- |2022–23 |23||2||3||0||2{{efn|name=UECL|Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League}}||0||28||2 |- |2023–24 |21||4||2||1||7{{efn|name=UEL}}||0||30||5 |- !colspan="2"|Total !107!!12!!12!!1!!22!!0!!141!!13 |- |Sparta Prague B |2022–23 ||Czech National Football League |5||0||colspan="2"|–||colspan="2"|–||5||0 |- |Hamburger SV (loan) |2024–25 |2. Bundesliga |31||3||2||0||colspan="2"|—||33||3 |- |Lyon (loan) |2025–26 |Ligue 1 |21||1||4||0||9{{efn|name=UEL}}||2||34||3 |- !colspan="3"|Career total !165!!16!!18!!1!!31!!2!!213!!19 |} {{notelist}}
===International=== {{updated|match played 26 March 2026}}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ Appearances and goals by national team and year |- !National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals |- |rowspan="2"|Czech Republic |2025||4||2 |- |2026||1||0 |- !colspan="2"|Total!!5!!2 |}
''Scores and results list the Czech Republic's goal tally first.''
{| class="wikitable" |+ List of international goals scored by Adam Karabec ! No. !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Score !! Result !! Competition |- | 1. || 12 October 2025 || Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands || {{fb|FRO}} || align=center|'''1'''–1 || align=center| 1–2 || rowspan=2| 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |- | 2. || 17 November 2025 || Andrův stadion, Olomouc, Czech Republic || {{fb|GIB}} || align=center|'''4'''–0 || align=center| 6–0 |- |}
==Honours== '''Sparta Prague''' *Czech First League: 2022–23,<ref>{{Cite news|agency=Czech News Agency|date=23 May 2023|accessdate=23 May 2023|title=Sparta v euforii! Remíza na Slovácku odstartovala mistrovské oslavy|url=https://www.sport.cz/clanek/fotbal-ceska-1-liga-sparta-v-euforii-remiza-na-slovacku-odstartovala-mistrovske-oslavy-4229432 |website=Sport.cz|language=cs|publisher=Borgis}}</ref> 2023–24<ref name="blesk.cz 2024">{{Cite news|title=SESTŘIH: Boleslav - Sparta 0:5. Titul pro Letenské! Kuchta dal čtyři góly|url=https://isport.blesk.cz/clanek/fotbal-1-liga-rocnik-2023-24/447579/sestrih-boleslav-sparta-0-5-titul-pro-letenske-kuchta-dal-ctyri-goly.html|website=Blesk|date=18 May 2024|language=cs|publisher=Czech News Center|agency=Czech News Agency|access-date=19 May 2024}}</ref> *Czech Cup: 2023–24<ref name="sport.cz 2024">{{Cite news|last=Neumann|first=Robert|title=Sparta slaví double! Triumf v nervózním finále trefil Birmančevič|url=https://www.sport.cz/clanek/fotbal-pohar-fotbaliste-sparty-budou-ve-finale-domaciho-poharu-v-plzni-usilovat-o-zisk-double-5028779|website=Sport.cz|date=22 May 2024|language=cs|publisher=Borgis|access-date=23 May 2024}}</ref>
'''Individual''' * Czech Talent of the Year: 2021<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ceskenoviny.cz/zpravy/nejlepsim-fotbalovym-starsim-dorostencem-byl-zvolen-spartan-karabec/2143373|title=Nejlepším fotbalovým starším dorostencem byl zvolen sparťan Karabec|language=cs|work=ceskenoviny.cz|agency=Czech News Agency|date=9 January 2022|access-date=9 January 2022}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{Fortunaliga.cz}} * {{Soccerway|new_id=karabec-adam/SClyr2eG|id=adam-karabec/612345|archive=20240621211614}}
{{Olympique Lyonnais squad}} {{Czech Talent of the Year}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karabec, Adam}} Category:2003 births Category:Living people Category:Czech men's footballers Category:Footballers from Prague Category:Men's association football midfielders Category:Czech Republic men's youth international footballers Category:Czech Republic men's under-21 international footballers Category:Czech First League players Category:Czech National Football League players Category:2. Bundesliga players Category:AC Sparta Prague players Category:Hamburger SV players Category:Czech expatriate men's footballers Category:Czech expatriate sportspeople in Germany Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Category:21st-century Czech sportsmen Category:Olympique Lyonnais players Category:Czech expatriate sportspeople in France Category:Expatriate men's footballers in France Category:Ligue 1 players Category:Czech Republic men's international footballers