Lamine Yamal feared missing the 2026 FIFA World Cup after suffering a hamstring injury and prayed he would be able to recover in time.
Yamal is expected to be fit for the tournament that starts on June 11 in North America. He injured his left hamstring while converting a penalty with Barcelona in a Spanish league match on April 22.
«I’ve never had a hamstring injury like this before, but I knew it wouldn’t be a short recovery time,» Yamal said in an interview with the Spanish Football Federation published on Sunday. “I was afraid it was something serious or that it could relapse and I would miss the World Cup.”
The 18-year-old Yamal went down after converting a first-half penalty in the match against Celta Vigo. He scored and immediately looked to the bench to indicate he was injured. He fell to the ground as his teammates arrived to celebrate, then appeared to grab the back of his left leg.
“I remember the play where I got hurt,” Yamal said. “I was praying inside that it wouldn’t be serious, that it would be a cramp or something like that, because I knew the World Cup was very close.”
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Spanish coach Luis de la Fuente said last week, after including Yamal in his World Cup squad, that the forward was expected to be ready to play Spain’s first or second match. La Roja will make its debut on June 15 in Atlanta against Cape Verde. It next faces Saudi Arabia on June 21 in Atlanta and Uruguay on June 26 in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Yamal is expected to lead the Spanish team that will try to win its second world title. In 2010, the country won the World Cup in South Africa for the first time.
“The moment has finally come,” Yamal said. «I think we have all been thinking about this day since the end of the European Championship and we are all very excited. We will enter the tournament as European champions and we will give everything we have.»
Spain officially started preparations for the World Cup in Madrid on Saturday. About 2,000 people watched the team’s first training on Sunday.
Published on May 31, 2026
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