Barcelona’s 1-0 home win over Celta Vigo on April 22 was overshadowed by inspirational winger Lamine Yamal suffering an injury, with the 18-year-old saying the timing of his misfortune “hurts more than I can explain”.
The Spain international was substituted during the first half and clearly in pain, leading to concerns that one of Barca and La Roja’s key creative presences could be out for a sustained period.
“This injury leaves me off the field at the time I most wanted to be [on it],” Lamal responded a day later in a social media post.
“It hurts not being able to fight with my teammates, not being able to help when the team needs me. But I believe in them and I know they’re going to give their souls in every game.”
Here’s the latest on Yamal’s progress, including when the sensation could return and his prospects of playing at the World Cup.
What’s the latest news on Lamine Yamal’s injury?
Yamal sounded hopeful of being involved early in Spain’s campaign but admitted to feeling initial anxieties in an interview with the Spanish Football Federation at the end of May.
“I never had a hamstring injury like that but I knew that it wasn’t going to be a short recovery time,” he said.
“I was afraid that it was something serious or that it could relapse and that I would miss the World Cup.
“I was praying inside for it not to be serious – for it to be a cramp or something like that, because I knew the World Cup was very close.
“The moment has finally arrived. Ever since the European Championship ended, we’ve all been thinking about this day [starting the finals], and we are all very excited,”
Barcelona issued an update a day after Yamal was forced off confirming that the academy product has sustained a left-hamstring injury.
The club added that Yamal would follow a “conservative treatment plan”.
In an interview with SPORT in early May, Spain head coach Luis De la Fuente praised Yamal’s commitment to “invisible training” as “the most important thing”.
“He trains three hours a day, goes to the gym, visits his physio, his nutritionist and his psychologist, and gives himself to his invisible training,” explained De La Fuente.
“Invisible training is something that many people are unaware of. It’s about being 24 hours [a day] thinking about your work.”
How long will Yamal be out for? Which games will he miss?
Yamal was named in Spain’s squad for the finals on May 25, having missed Barca’s run-in as Hansi Flick’s side sealed their Liga title defence.
He missed their final six matches of 2025/26, all of which were in La Liga following their Champions League quarter-final exit against Atletico Madrid in April.
The most notable match Yamal missed was Barca’s win in the Clasico against Madrid on May 10.
Will Lamine Yamal play at the World Cup with Spain? Potential return date
Yamal’s selection and interview suggest he could be fit from the start of the finals.
Depending on their severity, hamstring injuries usually take between four and six weeks to fully recover from.
A return in six weeks would roughly coincide with Spain’s final friendly before the World Cup, facing Peru in the Mexican city of Puebla on June 8.
Spain’s campaign at the finals begins against 69th-ranked Cape Verde in Atlanta on June 15. Their fixtures could work kindly for easing Yamal back to action because they then take on 61st-ranked Saudi Arabia.
“God willing, he will arrive at the World Cup as well as possible,” said De La Fuente. “Nobody gives Lamine anything.
“I talk about Lamine because I know him very well.”
The reigning European champions’ toughest-looking group-stage fixture is against 17th-ranked Uruguay in a game taking place more than two months after Yamal’s injury occurred.
Medical expert and FIFA-certified physician Pedro Luis Ripoll believes Yamal’s comeback will have to be a “very careful” one because the injury has a 30% recurrence rate.
“We have to be extremely cautious with the recovery timeline,” Ripoll told El Larguero, via Cadena Ser.
“If the injury is located in the muscle belly, we’re talking about a more benign prognosis; however, if it’s located at the junction of the muscle and tendon or in the tendon itself, the injury could be more serious: at least four to six weeks.”
Spain’s initial World Cup schedule looks like this. Kick-off times with an asterisk denote the previous day.
Lamine Yamal stats, injury history
Since making his senior breakthrough with seven goals and nine assists in 50 appearances in all competitions for Barca in 2023/24, Yamal has rapidly established himself as one of the best players in the world.
Yamal contributed 18 goals and 25 assists in 2024/25, helping his club win La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup.
The penalty that caused his injury was also Yamal’s 24th goal in all competitions of another extraordinary season, with the prodigy the runaway leader in terms of Liga assists after setting up 11 goals.
Only Liga top scorer Kylian Mbappe, of Real Madrid, could better Yamal’s total of 27 direct goal involvements in the division at the time of his injury.
The France captain and Mallorca’s Vedat Muriqi were the only players to have surpassed Yamal’s tally of 16 goals in the division at the time.
The 2025 Ballon d’Or runner-up produced four assists and six goals in Barcelona’s Champions League campaign, scoring after four minutes to put them ahead on the night in the second leg of their tie against Atleti, although their domestic rivals held off their comeback to advance 3-2 on aggregate.
A scorer on his Spain debut against Georgia in September 2023, Yamal has six goals and 12 assists across 25 caps.
Barcelona missed Yamal for five matches across September and October while he dealt with pubalgia – a type of sports hernia involving a chronic soft-tissue injury of the lower abdomen or groin, also causing him to miss four Spain games.
In 2024/25, Yamal sat out five Barca fixtures and three internationals with an ankle issue.
Who will Barcelona replace Lamine Yamal with?
While some regard Yamal’s abilities as irreplaceable, the good news for Flick is that Barca have an abundance of attacking options capable of providing plenty of threat.
Brazil forward Raphinha was hoping to soon return from a hamstring injury at the time when Yamal experienced the same problem, while the likes of Dani Olmo, Fermin Lopez, Marcus Rashford and Joao Cancelo also provide width and goals.
Flick spoke before the game against Celta Vigo about 20-year-old winger Roony Bardghji, who replaced Yamal when he was hurt.
“He’s hoping for more playing time, but sometimes that’s how it goes,” Flick said, calling the Sweden international “a fantastic professional”.
“We have Lamine in that position… right now, we also need him on the pitch. Roony is fantastic and I’ve spoken with him and explained his situation.
“He’s playing with the best in the world and he’s improved a lot, and we’ll talk at the end of the season; there are still games to play.
“[The players are] all important, and we need them all to be better.”
Barcelona scored an astonishing 102 goals across their 32 league matches in 2024/25.
They needed to average three goals per game to eclipse the total during their final six matches of the 2025/26 season.
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