Barcelona star ruled out of Spain-Uruguay 2026 World Cup clash | OneFootball

So far, it has been a relatively productive 2026 World Cup for the Barcelona players involved in the tournament in North America. Lamine Yamal was the star of the show for Spain on their victory over Saudi Arabia on Sunday, and in four days’ time, he will be in action again when La Roja take on Uruguay in their final Group H match.

Barcelona have Joan Garcia, Eric Garcia, Pau Cubarsi, Pedri, Gavi, Dani Olmo, Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres in Spain’s squad, and against Uruguay, they would be due to come face-to-face with Ronald Araujo. However, the defender, who has yet to feature at the World Cup, will be missing at the Guadalajara Stadium in Mexico.

At the start of the month, Araujo suffered a micro-tear in his calf, which has meant he’s still waiting to play in North America. He may not get the chance if Spain win on Friday, with Uruguay head coach Marcelo Bielsa confirmed (via MD) that the Barcelona man has “no chance” to return in time to face La Roja.

Barcelona would’ve hoped for Araujo to do well at World Cup

Barcelona would have hoped for all of their players to perform well at the World Cup, but there would have been a particular desire for this in Araujo’s case. The 27-year-old is reportedly under consideration to be sold during the summer, given that he has reportedly dropped down to being fifth-choice centre-back in Hansi Flick’s squad.

Araujo has often had clubs following his situation, and while this will continue to be the case even if he does not play at the World Cup, Barcelona would’ve hoped that strong performances for Uruguay would elevate his value, this allowing them to raise more money to put towards their own signing targets. However, this looks very unlikely now.