Lamine Yamal is fit to start against Saudi Arabia, Luis de la Fuente said on the eve of Spain’s second World Cup game in Atlanta, but the coach made clear the 18-year-old will not be asked to play the full match. De la Fuente said Yamal could be used for 55, 58 or 63 minutes, depending on how the game unfolds.
That update matters because Yamal had spent much of Spain’s buildup under a cloud after an injury in April, even though he was already back in the picture with a 20-minute substitute appearance in Spain’s 0-0 draw against Cape Verde. For a player who has become central to the conversation around Spain, the question was not whether he would be available, but how carefully he would be handled.
De la Fuente tried to lower the temperature around that attention while raising the value of the player himself. He urged people not to compare Yamal with Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona or anyone else, saying the worst mistake would be to measure him against other greats. Instead, he likened extraordinary talents to Salvador Dalí and Michelangelo, insisting that some gifts arrive so naturally they should be appreciated on their own terms.
That is the friction inside Spain’s Yamal debate: the coach is asking for restraint while also describing him as a genius and as the team’s central hope. De la Fuente said Yamal has exceptional footballing maturity, lives everything with total naturalness and protects himself from the media, adding that he was waiting for him because he is important. He also said Yamal enjoys playing so much that watching him train is a joy, a striking line for a teenager whose fitness has dominated the buildup.
The practical question now is how Spain use him if the match turns in their favour early. De la Fuente’s minute range suggests a planned exit rather than a gamble, and that is the clearest sign yet that Spain are treating Yamal as both an immediate weapon and a player whose April injury still shapes every decision around him. The headline is that he is ready; the real test is whether Spain can keep him that way.
