Barcelona have announced that Lamine Yamal’s domestic season in Spain is over, but that the international forward should be fit to represent his country at this summer’s World Cup.
The 18-year-old striker helped Spain to the Euro 2024 title, while also lifting La Liga with Barca last season.
His club side are well on the way to defending that title, with a nine-point lead over Real Madrid, although they will have to do so now without their iconic starlet.
Al Jazeera Sport looks at how Yamal’s injury grabbed global headlines after their football game on Wednesday, and what the road to World Cup 2026 may now look like for the Catalan.
Barcelona were looking to re-establish their nine-point advantage over Real when they played Celta Vigo on Wednesday, April 22.
With the deadlock yet to be broken, Yamal won a penalty for his side – which he scored.
In the immediate aftermath of striking the ball, however, he crumpled to the ground in pain and was quickly substituted.
The strike would prove enough to score a 1-0 win for Barca, but it has come at some cost.
Rumours swirled into Thursday morning that Yamal’s participation at this summer’s World Cup for Spain could be in doubt.
The early exit from Barca’s win suggested the injury would be serious enough to keep him out for at least a couple of weeks.
The Catalan club, however, confirmed in a statement on Thursday that the injury was to his hamstring and that he would no longer play any part in the club’s defence of their title with six games to play as a result.
“The tests carried out have confirmed that first-team player Lamine Yamal has a hamstring injury in his left leg (biceps femoris muscle),” read Barcelona’s statement, which was first posted on social media platform X.
Such injuries are grouped into three grades: minor, moderate or severe strain/tear.
The recovery periods range from one week to six months.
“The player will follow a conservative treatment plan. Lamine Yamal will miss the remainder of the season, and he is expected to be available for the World Cup,” Barcelona’s statement concluded.
Given the Spanish season runs for another four weeks, until May 24, it is likely that Yamal has at very least a moderate strain.
Such an injury ranges from a four-to-six-week recovery.
What Barcelona’s statement on Thursday did not reveal was just how long the recovery period is expected to be, as the World Cup is set to begin on June 11, when Mexico face South Africa in the first match.
Spain’s first game is being played four days later, against Cape Verde. They then face Saudi Arabia on June 21, before completing the initial group phase with what could be a crunch game against Uruguay on June 27.
Whether Yamal is risked for the opening match on June 15, only seven-and-a-half weeks after he sustained the injury, remains to be seen.
The final game of the group stages is just over nine weeks from the now infamous penalty kick against Celta. That is more than week clear of the longest expected recovery time for a moderate strain.
Yamal was an integral part of the Spain side that lifted the Euro 2024 title with their 2-1 win against England.
While he was only 16 years of age at the time, his speed and guile on the ball marked him as one of the hottest properties in global football.
His stock rose dramatically with a memorable curled effort from outside the box – now his trademark effort – against France in the semifinals.
Despite his young age, Yamal has already scored six goals in total for Spain in 25 international appearances.
“This injury is keeping me off the pitch just when I wanted to be there the most, and it hurts more than I can put into words,” Yamal wrote on his social media accounts on Thursday.
“It hurts not to be able to fight alongside my teammates, not to be able to help when the team needs me … But I’ll be there, even if it’s from the sidelines, supporting, cheering and pushing them on just like one of the lads.
“This isn’t the end, it’s just a break. I’ll come back stronger, more determined than ever, and next season will be better.”
A year after the Euro 2024 triumph, Yamal lifted the La Liga title for the first time when he helped his native Barcelona pip Real Madrid in a closely fought affair that saw just four points separating the sides in the end.
Yamal scored 18 goals that season, including three in the last four games of the La Liga season.
His penalty against Celta was his 24th goal of this season for Barcelona, which ends for him with his side still having six further games to play.
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