Spain national team head coach Luis de la Fuente has confirmed that young talent Lamine Yamal has fully recovered from his injury and is ready to play at the 2026 World Cup. However, the Barcelona star is highly unlikely to be in the starting lineup for the opening Group H match against Cape Verde.
Lamine Yamal is one of the players receiving the most attention at this year’s tournament. However, his preparation was significantly affected following an injury sustained while playing for Barcelona on April 22. In recent weeks, the young forward has been racing against time to recover ahead of the planet’s biggest football festival. His absence from Spain’s final friendly match in Mexico last week had raised many concerns about his availability.
However, in the pre-match press conference held in Atlanta on Sunday, coach De la Fuente brought good news to the fans.
“The good news is that Lamine is in perfect condition. He has reached the physical state exactly as we wanted at this moment. He is completely fine, just like Nico Williams and Victor Munoz. All are ready to play, although some will not play the full match.”
Not only Yamal, but Nico Williams and Victor Munoz have also faced fitness issues recently. Nevertheless, all three fully participated in the Spanish national team’s training session at Kennesaw State University (Georgia) on Sunday.
Despite confirming Yamal is ready to play, the 64-year-old tactician stated he will not risk using the player for the entire 90 minutes.
“The doctors confirm Lamine can play tomorrow without any issues. Not to play a full 90 minutes, but he is perfectly able to take the field for a certain amount of time. The case with Nico Williams is similar. They have trained together for many days, many hours, and with their existing relationship, both feel very comfortable. They can play if we see that the match requires it.”
