BARCELONA (AP) — Lamine Yamal will miss the rest of Barcelona’s season, but he’s expected to be back in time to compete for Spain at the World Cup, the club announced on Thursday.
Barcelona indicated that the 18-year-old forward will sit out the six remaining La Liga matches for the leaders, including the Clasico against Real Madrid, while continuing a “conservative treatment” to recover from a left hamstring injury. Yamal suffered the injury on Wednesday after converting a penalty in the 1-0 victory over Celta Vigo.
The club added in a statement that its doctors believe Yamal is “expected to be available for the World Cup.”
It’s anticipated that Yamal will make his World Cup debut this summer. Spain will open their campaign against Cape Verde on June 15 in Atlanta.
Yamal has established himself as one of the world’s best players since making his Barcelona debut at 15, a record for precocity. He was one of the standout figures for the Spanish national team that captured Euro 2024, and he is among the main reasons Luis de la Fuente’s squad is among the favorites this summer, thanks to his dribbling, creativity and the ability to both score and provide assists for teammates.
He collapsed to the turf after scoring the winner against Celta at the 40th minute and immediately looked toward the bench to signal that he was injured. He dropped to the ground as his teammates arrived to celebrate and then appeared to grab the back of his left leg.
Yamal left the field on his own after receiving attention from the medical staff. He spoke briefly with coach Hansi Flick on the sideline before walking alone toward the locker-room tunnel.
Barcelona lead Real Madrid by nine points, with two matchdays remaining before they face off at Camp Nou on May 10.
The azulgranas will begin the closing stretch without Yamal on Saturday, when they visit Getafe. Flick could replace Yamal on the right wing with winger Roony Bardghji or reconfigure his attacking line to add an extra midfielder.
Yamal has been the team’s top scorer (24) and top creator (18) across all competitions.
