One of the main talents of the new generation of football, striker Lamine Yamal, just 18 years old, has already racked up a series of historic achievements with Barcelona and the Spanish national team.
The youngest player to score goals wearing the Catalan team’s shirt and his country’s national team uniform, at 16 years old, and also the youngest European Cup champion, one day after turning 17, Yamal won the last two editions of the Kopa Trophy, from France Football magazine, which chooses the best under-21 football player of the season.
Seen within the club as a natural successor to Lionel Messi, also left-footed, created by Barcelona’s base and a declared fan of Neymar, the striker helped Barça win the treble last season, with the titles of the Spanish Championship, the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa del Rey.
In 55 matches for the team in the 2024/25 season, Yamal scored 18 times and distributed 22 passes, leading the assist statistics in Espanyol.
Due to these credentials, the athlete, son of a Moroccan father and a Guinean-Ecuadorian mother, is one of the most anticipated names to compete in the World Cup in North America. Spain is part of group H at the World Cup, alongside Uruguay, Saudi Arabia and debutant Cape Verde.
Yamal’s participation in the World Cup, however, became a real race against time after the young man suffered a muscle injury to his left hamstring, shortly after converting a penalty kick that gave Barcelona the winning goal against Celta de Vigo on the 22nd, in a duel valid for the 33rd round of the Spanish Cup, at the Camp Nou stadium.
With five rounds remaining until the end of the competition, Barcelona is at the top of the league table, with 85 points, 11 ahead of rival Real Madrid, close to confirming their second title — the last time the Catalan team won the championship twice in a row was in the last decade, in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons.
Yamal is the team’s top scorer in Espanyol, with 16 goals in 28 matches, and the leader in assists in the entire championship, with 11 passes to goal.
According to Barça, the player should no longer play for the club for the remainder of the season, but the expectation is that he will be available to play in the World Cup.
“The player will follow conservative treatment,” the club said in a statement, indicating that it should opt for a recovery process without the need to subject the player to surgery.
Orthopedic doctor at the AACD Orthopedic Hospital, Ricardo Soares stated that, based on the information provided by the club, it is possible to determine that Yamal suffered only a partial injury, without the total rupture of the muscle fiber, as was the case with Estêvão, from Chelsea, practically ruled out of the World Cup with the Brazilian team.
In this case, Soares said that the estimated return period varies from approximately 30 to 45 days — the World Cup starts in exactly 45 days, on June 11. Spain debuts four days later, against Cape Verde, at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, in Atlanta.
“Everything indicates that he will return in time to be able to participate in the World Cup,” said the orthopedist.
In a post on his social networks after confirming the severity of the injury, Yamal regretted having suffered the physical problem in the final stretch of the European season and promised to return stronger.
“This injury leaves me off the field at the moment I most wanted to be, and it hurts more than I can explain. 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 that they will leave their soul in every game”, wrote the Spanish striker.
“I will be there, even if it’s from the outside, supporting, cheering and pushing as one more. This is not the end, it’s just a break. I will come back stronger, more excited than ever, and the next season will be better”, added Yamal.
