Lamine Yamal Ready as Spain Aims for Euro-World Cup Double

Spain will walk into their World Cup opener with their brightest young star available – and under orders.

Lamine Yamal, the Barcelona prodigy who frightened defences across Europe before a hamstring injury cut short his 2025-26 season, has been declared “in perfect condition” to face Cape Verde on Monday, according to head coach Luis de la Fuente. The caveat is clear: he will not be pushed to the limit.

“The good news is that Lamine is in perfect condition,” De la Fuente told reporters on the eve of Spain’s Group A start. The message was calm, almost casual, but its significance for La Roja is huge.

Yamal damaged his hamstring in April and has been racing the clock ever since. Spain built their preparations around the hope he would make it. Now he has. Not for 90 minutes, but for the moments that matter.

“The doctors say Lamine can play tomorrow without any issues. Not to play 90 minutes, but to play some minutes, yes,” De la Fuente said, making it clear Spain will manage every sprint, every acceleration. The same goes for Nico Williams, another key attacking outlet who has also been working back to fitness.

“They’re all available, although some won’t play the entire game,” the coach added, grouping Yamal with Williams and Victor Munoz. “The process [with Williams] is similar.”

A heavyweight target, a fragile record

Spain arrive as World Cup favourites, at least according to Opta’s supercomputer. The numbers like them. History has been far less generous.

Since their golden summer of 2010, when tiki-taka ruled and the trophy followed, La Roja’s World Cup story has been a catalogue of frustration: a group-stage collapse in 2014, then back-to-back exits in the last 16 on penalties. One semi-final in their last 14 appearances, and just one win in their last six World Cup matches – that 7-0 demolition of Costa Rica in 2022 that promised a revival and then faded.

They now chase a place in rare company. Only three nations have ever held the European Championship and World Cup at the same time. Spain, crowned European champions in Germany two years ago, want to join that elite group again.

To do it, they need Yamal. They need Williams. They need the freshness and fearlessness that has started to define De la Fuente’s Spain, layered onto the control and possession the shirt demands.

The coach insists the group is ready. “They’ve been working together a lot of days, a lot of hours, and with the relationship they have, they’ve been happy,” he said of his attacking options. “They could play, if we think the game demands it.”

That last line is telling. Cape Verde should not, on paper, stretch a side tipped to win the tournament. But De la Fuente is clearly keeping his powder dry. This is a long campaign, not a one-night show.

Cucurella in the spotlight amid Real Madrid talk

While Yamal’s fitness dominated the build-up, another subplot flickered into view: Marc Cucurella’s future.

Reports suggest the Chelsea defender is close to a move to Real Madrid. The timing is delicate. A World Cup opener, a potential transfer to the biggest club in Spain, all converging on the same week. Distraction? De la Fuente is having none of it.

“If it’s good news for Cucu, or someone else, we’ll celebrate it,” he said, refusing to be drawn on club business. But on Cucurella the player, he did not hold back.

He described the left-back as “one of the best left-backs in the world”, underlining the trust that has grown over years in the national setup. “He’s been with us since he was 17. I know his performance, the quality and potential he has. He might be one of the best left-backs in the world, without doubt.”

The message to Cucurella was simple: whatever happens with Real Madrid, your place here is secure, your role decisive.

A familiar weight, a new generation

So Spain step into this World Cup with the weight of expectation pressing hard and the scars of recent tournaments still visible. Favourites, but not yet feared. Technically gifted, but with something to prove when the knockout pressure comes.

The difference this time? A new generation that does not remember the trauma of 2014 or the shoot-out anguish that followed. Yamal, Williams, Munoz – players raised on clips of Spain lifting trophies, not stumbling out early.

Cape Verde is the first test, not the defining one. The real questions will come later, when legs are heavy and margins brutal. For now, De la Fuente has what he wanted most: his young star fit, his squad aligned, his left flank anchored by a defender he trusts.

Spain know how it feels to dominate the world. The challenge now is harsher: can this version of La Roja turn promise, data and talent into something as tangible as a second star on the shirt?