Spain boss Luis de la Fuente says he hopes Lamine Yamal will be available for the team’s first game
of World Cup 2026 after being quizzed on the current injury problems.Yamal has missed end of Barcelona’s season with a hamstring problem and has been joined on the sidelines by Nico Williams who is out with a similar problem.
Spain’s first game of the tournament is against Cape Verde on June 9th and De la Fuente thinks his team should be in good shape by then.
“I think we’ll have Lamine, Nico, and Mikel
available for the first World Cup match, and if not, we’ll have them for the second or third. It doesn’t cause any major problems,” he told the media.
“The injuries are putting us under pressure. Any injuries that occur now, even minor ones, are difficult to recover from. Nico’s is less severe; we’ll have him back in 3-4 weeks.”
There has been talk that Yamal will be eased back carefully to avoid the risk of a relapse and that he could even sit out the first game altogether.
Spain’s other two group games are against Saudi Arabia on June 21st and Uruguay on June 27th.
