ATLANTA — Spain coach Luis de la Fuente included teenager Lamine Yamal in the national team’s 2026 FIFA World Cup squad despite a hamstring injury the player sustained on April 22. Yamal, who injured his left hamstring while converting a penalty kick for Barcelona in a Spanish league match, is expected to be fit for the start of the tournament.
"I never had a hamstring injury like that but I knew that it wasn’t going to be a short recovery time," Lamine Yamal said. "I was afraid that it was something serious or that it could relapse and that I would miss the World Cup."
Spain opens its World Cup campaign against Cape Verde on June 15 in Atlanta. The 2026 FIFA World Cup begins on June 11 and concludes with the final on July 19. Spain will also face Saudi Arabia on June 21 in Atlanta and Uruguay on June 26 in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Spain officially began its World Cup preparations on Saturday in Madrid. The team arrives in the tournament as reigning European champions after winning Euro 2024 in Germany. Spain also won the 2023 Nations League and finished runner-up to Portugal in the 2025 edition.
"Since the EURO, Gavi’s been joking that it’s the one record I can’t take off him. I’ll just have to go one better – become the youngest Spaniard to get a hat-trick at the World Cup," Yamal told Fifa’s official website.
Spain has not advanced beyond the last 16 in the World Cup since winning the title in 2010. For the first time, the squad includes no Real Madrid players.