Rising Spanish football prodigy Lamine Yamal has opened up about the terrifying weeks he spent fearing his dream of featuring at the 2026 FIFA World Cup would be shattered by a sudden hamstring injury, revealing he clung to hope through prayer as he worked to beat his recovery timeline. The 18-year-old Barcelona forward, who is widely tipped to be one of the breakout stars of this summer’s tournament in North America, suffered the damaging strain to his left hamstring during a La Liga fixture against Celta Vigo on April 22, just moments after converting a first-half penalty for his club.
In a candid interview published by the Royal Spanish Football Federation on Sunday, Yamal admitted the injury was the most serious setback he has faced in his young career, and that uncertainty about his recovery left him deeply anxious in the immediate aftermath. “I never had a hamstring injury like that but I knew that it wasn’t going to be a short recovery time,” Yamal said. “I was afraid that it was something serious or that it could relapse and that I would miss the World Cup.”
Witnesses to the incident confirmed the moment the teen’s joy at scoring turned to concern: he immediately gestured to the Barcelona bench signalling pain before collapsing to the ground as teammates rushed in to celebrate, clutching the back of his left leg in clear discomfort. Yamal recalled that even in that moment, his first thought was of the upcoming World Cup, saying, “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.”
Fortunately for the young star and Spanish football fans, his recovery has proceeded according to plan, and national team head coach Luis de la Fuente gave supporters a positive update last week when he named Yamal to Spain’s final 2026 World Cup squad. De la Fuente confirmed the forward is on track to be fit for selection for either La Roja’s opening group stage match or their second outing of the tournament.
Spain will kick off their 2026 World Cup campaign against debutants Cape Verde on June 15 in Atlanta, before facing Saudi Arabia on June 21 at the same venue, and wrapping up group play against Uruguay on June 26 in Guadalajara, Mexico. As the reigning European champions, Spain enter the tournament with high hopes of claiming their second World Cup title, their first coming in South Africa back in 2010. Yamal, who is expected to be a key attacking leader for the side, says the entire squad has been eagerly anticipating the tournament since their European Championship triumph.
“The moment has finally arrived,” Yamal said. “I think that ever since the European Championship ended, we’ve all been thinking about this day, and we are all very excited. We will enter the tournament as the European champions, and we are going to give it everything we have.”
Spain officially kicked off their pre-World Cup preparations in Madrid on Saturday, with roughly 2,000 passionate supporters turning out to watch the squad’s first public training session on Sunday, eager to catch a glimpse of the team ahead of their North American departure.