Spain Manager Predicts When Lamine Yamal Will Make World Cup Debut

The Barcelona superstar was unsurprisingly included on the 2026 roster, despite his injury.

Lamine Yamal missed the end of Barcelona’s season with a hamstring injury. | Gongora/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Lamine Yamal’s World Cup preparations have been hindered by a hamstring injury, but the Barcelona superstar is still expected to be fully fit for the start of the tournament.

Supporters of the Spanish national team were cursing Hansi Flick when Yamal succumbed after taking a penalty in Barça’s 1–0 victory over Celta Vigo on April 22. The winger has been used relentlessly by the German since breaking into the senior setup and emerging as one of the world’s best players.

Yamal has already lit up the big stage for La Roja, earning Young Player of the Tournament honors at Euro 2024, which Spain won handsomely. However, it’s at the World Cup where legacies of soccer’s best are forged, and Yamal is readying himself for his first experience of the tournament this summer.

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Luis de la Fuente Provides Optimistic Lamine Yamal Update

De la Fuente must manage Yamal carefully at the World Cup. | Rene Nijhuis/MB Media/Getty Images

Barcelona immediately offered hope that the hamstring injury Yamal picked up last month wouldn’t compromise his World Cup dream. Reports have since varied regarding the winger’s recovery and when he could first appear for La Roja in North America.

Those on edge received greater clarity from what you’d like to consider as a pretty reliable source: manager Luis de la Fuente.

The mastermind of Spain’s European conquest two years ago spoke reassuringly of Yamal’s inclusion on his 26-man World Cup roster, predicting that the winger will be given the all clear before their first game of the tournament.

“First and foremost, caution. We need to give him the time he needs, especially now," De la Fuente told reporters after his roster was revealed.

“I believe he’ll be ready for the first match, and we hope he can live up to expectations, but without putting undue pressure on him. He’s very mature.”

Spain, among the tournament favorites, begin on June 15 against World Cup debutant Cabo Verde in Group H.

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Why Are There No Real Madrid Players in Spain’s World Cup Squad?

Dean Huijsen was a surprise omission from Spain’s squad. | Oscar J. Barroso/Europa Press/Getty Images

Yamal is one of eight Barcelona players included in Spain’s World Cup squad, and that tally surely would‘ve been nine had Fermín López not broken his foot during the final home game of the season.

On the other side of the Clásico divide, no Real Madrid players were picked by De la Fuente. For the first time in World Cup history, Spain’s most decorated club won’t be represented at all in the national team.

There were just three Madrid players in the Euro 2024 squad, and two of those, Joselu and Nacho Fernández, are currently plying their trade in the Middle East. The other, veteran Dani Carvajal, didn’t make De la Fuente’s 55-man provisional roster, given his limited number of minutes this season.

Dean Huijsen was the most likely to make it, even featuring in Panini’s quadrennial sticker collection for the tournament, but his form has been spotty for Madrid since joining last summer. Pau Cubarsí and Marc Pubill were preferred.

The other Spanish options at Real Madrid are uninspiring. Raúl Asencio has never been capped, Álvaro Carreras had a mixed first season with the club, while Fran García isn’t of the requisite level.
Striker Gonzalo García is at least attending the early stages of camp as a training player.

Los Blancos will be heavily represented elsewhere in North America, just not with Spain.

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