Spain boss provides encouraging Lamine Yamal update ahead of World Cup opener | OneFootball

Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente has delivered a positive update on Lamine Yamal’s fitness, revealing that the Barcelona star is on course to be available for their opening World Cup match against Cape Verde next week.

Yamal has been sidelined since suffering a hamstring injury during Barcelona’s La Liga victory over Celta Vigo in April, with initial fears suggesting he could miss Spain’s first group-stage fixture.

The 18-year-old remained at Spain’s training base in Chattanooga alongside Nico Williams and Victor Munoz rather than travelling with the squad for their final World Cup warm-up match against Peru.

All three players are continuing their recovery programmes ahead of Spain’s tournament opener on June 15.

Speaking ahead of the friendly against Peru, De la Fuente expressed confidence that the trio would be ready to play if their rehabilitation continues as planned.

“If there are no setbacks in the coming days, we expect them to be available on the 15th,” the Spain manager said. “I think all three will be in a position to play.”

While De la Fuente stopped short of guaranteeing places in the starting lineup, his comments suggest Yamal is making strong progress and could still feature prominently against Cape Verde.

“All three are within the expected timelines to arrive in good condition for June 15,” he added. “The most important thing is that those timelines are being met and will continue to be met, so they can be with us and available to be selected at some point in the match.”

The update will come as a major boost for Spain, who head into the tournament among the favourites following their European Championship triumph two years ago.

Yamal remains one of the most important players in De la Fuente’s squad despite his age and enjoyed another outstanding campaign for Barcelona before injury brought his season to an early end.

The forward registered 24 goals and 16 assists in 45 appearances across all competitions as Barcelona successfully defended their La Liga crown.

Since making his senior international debut at just 16 years old, Yamal has established himself as one of Spain’s key attacking threats and has already scored six goals in 25 appearances for his country.

Spain face Peru in their final friendly before travelling to Atlanta for their World Cup opener.

Forward Yeremy Pino insisted the squad are embracing expectations ahead of the tournament.

“The favourites tag is normal,” Pino said. “We’ve had some very good years and we carry that with a lot of pride.