Spain and Barcelona sensation Lamine Yamal is set to miss out on their FIFA World Cup opener this summer, as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury suffered in a La Liga win over Celta Vigo last month.
The 18-year-old was ruled out for the remainder of the season after picking up the injury whilst taking a penalty during the 1-0 win, ending another excellent year during which he appeared in 45 games, scored 24 goals, and racked up 18 assists. He also won his third La Liga title and his second Supercopa de España.
Now hoping to play a key role for Spain at his first World Cup, Yamal is said to likely be unavailable for their Group H opener against Cape Verde at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 15.
Fermín López recently suffered a fractured metatarsal -Credit:Pedro Salado/Getty Images
What's more, Yamal is in doubt for their second game against Saudi Arabia six days later, also in Atlanta, according to The Athletic .
Unfortunately for head coach Luis de la Fuente, Yamal won't be the only Barcelona player missing for Spain when they kick off their pursuit of a second World Cup title, with the Blaugrana having announced that fellow attacker Fermín López has "suffered a fracture to the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot in the game against [Real] Betis ."
The club's statement added that he will undergo surgery, meaning he is highly unlikely to make it to the tournament, as per BBC Sport .
López has made seven appearances for the Spanish national team to date, including each of their last four games.
The 23-year-old's season ends having appeared in 48 games under Hansi Flick, scoring 13 goals and providing 17 assists.
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Thankfully for de la Fuente, he'll have two pre-World Cup friendlies with which to figure out how best to handle the absences of Yamal and López. First, they'll head to Estadio Riazor in La Coruña on June 4, where they'll face Iraq, before travelling to World Cup co-hosts Mexico to take on Peru at Estadio Cuauhtémoc in Puebla on June 8.
As for the World Cup, following their games in Atlanta, they'll conclude their group stage in Mexico at Estadio Akron in Zapopan against Uruguay on June 26, with the hope of reaching the first-ever Round of 32 - brought in to accommodate the tournament's expansion from 36 to 48 teams as of 2026.
The top two teams in each group will progress to the knockout rounds automatically, with the eight best third-placed teams also making it through.
Spain will be looking to make it past the first knockout round for the first time since 2010, when they won the tournament in South Africa , beating the Netherlands 1-0 in extra time. They enter the tournament ranked second in the world by FIFA behind 2018 champions France .
