Lamine Yamal's left hamstring injury is now expected to keep him out of Spain's first two World Cup matches, a blow that removes one of the tournament's most watched young players from the opening stretch. Barcelona had said he should still be available for the World Cup, but medical staff from the club and the Spanish federation have reportedly agreed he should not be used yet.
That matters now because Spain open against Cape Verde on 15 June, and Yamal's place in the lineup has been a live question since he injured himself after scoring against Celta Vigo on 22 April. He has not played since, and Barcelona said he would undergo conservative treatment and miss the rest of the season after tests confirmed damage to the left hamstring tendon.
The case has been shaped by a long-running back-and-forth over his workload. Yamal had already missed five matches earlier in the season because of pubalgia, also described as a sports hernia, and the injury worsened during a Spain camp in September, when a dispute emerged between the club and the national team. He later stayed home in November, underlining how carefully both sides have had to manage him.
Even so, the picture is not completely closed. A video posted in May showed Yamal beating a mannequin with a backheel and setting up a teammate, only two days after his Spain call-up for the World Cup and three weeks before Spain's opener against Cape Verde. That clip helped fuel hope that he might be ready sooner, but the current medical agreement points the other way.
Luís de la Fuente confirmed on Sunday that Yamal would be in the lineup against Atalanta in the opener of the 2026 World Cup, but the forward could still remain out until Spain's third and final group-stage match against Uruguay on 27 June. For Spain, the immediate question is not whether Yamal is important. It is whether they can afford to wait for him through the first two matches and still get him back in time to matter.
