Spain’s Lamine Yamal took part in the light individual stretching of the open portion of the team’s training on Thursday but not the passing drills. (Photo by Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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Spain will certainly want to get a leg up on Argentina when it comes to this Sunday’s 2026 FIFA World Cup Final. But a big question is what’s happening with one of the legs belonging to Lamine Yamal—the 19-year-old Spanish star who plays right wing for La Roja—namely his left leg. Yamal limped off the pitch after Spain’s semifinal victory over France and sat out of Spain’s passing drills on Thursday, which has left a lot of injury speculation.
Yamal Sat Out Of Spain’s Practice On Thursday
Yamal and his left leg were present on the practice field and did participate in some of the light stretching. But neither participated in the drills. Plus, his left thigh was wrapped in a bandage. Other than that, it is not completely clear what kind of trouble there may be in thigh land for Yamal. The Spanish coaching staff has claimed that keeping Yamal out of practice was simply part of the team’s workload management plan and that footballer who normally stars for Barcelona will be fully available come this Sunday. The practice was also beset by the Canadian wildfire smoke that has been drifting over the New York-New Jersey area, as I detailed in Forbes yesterday.
Yamal did come into the 2026 FIFA World Cup with big expectations. Prior to the start of the tournament, Ryan O’Hanlon ranked for ESPN Yamal as the seoncd best player at the World Cup, second only to France’s Ousmane Dembélé and 13 spots ahead of some guy named Messi. Although Yamal has not necessarily been the second player at the tournament so far, he has had an impact. He’s scored one goal and created five chances across seven games. Moreover, the Spanish national team still has never ever lost with Yamal in the lineup, going unbeaten for 14 games and counting.
Yamal Came Into The 2026 FIFA World Cup Recovering From A Hamstring Injury
Lamine Yamal (R) of Spain and his teammate Mikel Oyarzabal (C) take on Kylian Mbappe of France (L) during their semi-final match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at Dallas Stadium on July 14, 2026. (Photo by Pablo Morano/BSR Agency/Getty Images)
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Yamal also came into the 2026 FIFA World Cup recovering from a left hamstring injury. Hamstring injuries can vary in severity from Grade 1 strains, which are mild and involve only a small percentage of muscle fibers being torn to Grade 3 strains where at least one muscle is completely torn or ruptured, as I’ve described before in Forbes. The recovery time needed after a hamstring strain can range from a few days to months. Regardless, hamstring strains can be nagging injuries—not in the sense that it will keep telling you to take out the trash, but in that the hamstring can keep getting re-injured.
Now, near the end of the semifinal match on Tuesday, Yamal did grab his left leg seemingly in pain right after he brought down French star Kylian Mbappe in a defensive move. However, Yamal did not seek any medical attention at the time and continued playing for the short remainder of the game. Nevertheless, seeing Yamal limp after the match did make fans wonder whether he had taken some kind of X to that hamstring again:
There Is Not Enough Information To Determine The Condition of Yamal’s Leg
Without examining Yamal directly or seeing any of the medical reports, it is not possible to tell for sure what the situation may be with his leg. Again, the Spanish coaching staff has suggested that he is fit enough to be in the lineup on Sunday. Of course, teams may not be completely open about the health of their players to prevent their opponents from getting a leg up on them in any way.
Again, Yamal didn’t do much more than stretch during the open portion of Team Spain’s practice on Thursday. So, it wouldn’t be a stretch to wonder whether he re-aggravated that left hamstring in any way. If he did, he still has three days left to rest that left, which may be enough time to get him right again.