Barcelona star remains doubtful for crucial World Cup clash against Spain | OneFootball

The World Cup 2026 is well and truly underway, as all the teams have now played their first games in the tournament. Spain, the team with the highest representation from FC Barcelona and one of the favorites to win the competition, had to settle for a draw against Cape Verde in their opening game.

The new Blaugrana signing, Anthony Gordon, played his opening game in the competition only last night, as he started for England in the 4-2 win against Croatia.

Meanwhile, one Barcelona player who is still yet to play for his national side in the World Cup 2026 is the defender Ronald Araujo, who unfortunately suffered an injury five days before he was set to travel to Mexico to join his national team for their training camp.

As things stand, he has still not recovered from his minor calf tear, and as Mundo Deportivo has reported, remains a doubt for the group stage match against Spain.

This would have been particularly important for Araujo. In addition to playing against several of his teammates at Barcelona, this match can end up determining his team’s fate in the World Cup, especially as both Spain and Uruguay, the favorite two teams to advance from their group, were able only to draw in their first games, against Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia respectively.

For now, the center-back is keen to return to action as soon as possible, and for this purpose recently took an express flight to Madrid to consult with his trusted physiotherapist, Joaquin Juan. As things stand, he is essentially ruled out for the second game against Cape Verde.

Thus, Ronald Araujo might not be able to begin his World Cup before the Round of 32, and thus might also miss out on facing his teammates from Barcelona when Uruguay plays against Spain for the third game of the group stage.