Desk Report:
Spain coach Luis de la Fuente named Yamal in a 26-man squad for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and Bulgaria, with Lamine Yamal out. However, Barcelona gave them bad news a few hours after the squad was announced.
Yamal has suffered another groin injury after the Champions League match against PSG. He will be out of action for two to three weeks, the La Liga top club said in a statement. This means that even if he is included in the squad, Spain will have to play against Georgia and Bulgaria without Yamal.
Spain played World Cup qualifiers against Bulgaria and Turkey last month. Fuente kept Yamal in the squad for both matches despite having a groin injury. He played for a long time in both matches. This increased the injury problem of the 18-year-old footballer. As a result, he could not play in four matches for Barca.
Regarding this matter, Barca coach Flick claimed that Spain did not take care of the injured Yamal. On the contrary, they made a mistake by fielding him. Which has increased the wait for Yamal to return to the field. However, Fuente dismissed this allegation. Even after a month, the coach called Yamal back to the team, but it did not help.
Fuente caused a surprise by leaving out the previous squad captain Alvaro Morata. The Spanish head coach also faced some criticism for Morata not being in the team despite not being injured. Gavi, Fermin Lopez, Dani Carvajal and Nico Williams were not included in the team due to injuries.
Spain will play against Georgia on October 12. Their opponent is Bulgaria on October 15. The one-time champions will play both matches at home. Spain is at the top of Group ‘E’ in the European qualifiers. They have collected 6 points with 100% victory in two matches. Georgia and Turkey are in second and third place with 3 points each. Bulgaria has not won a match so far. They are at the bottom of the table.
Spain’s squad for the matches against Georgia and Bulgaria:
Goalkeepers: Unai Simeone, David Raya, Alex Remiro.
Defenders: Pedro Porro, Marcos Llorente, Din Hausen, Le Normand, Kubersi, Vivian, Cucurreia, Grimando.
Midfielders: Zubimendi, Rodrigo, Pedri, Mikel Merino, Alex Garcia, Bena, Dani Olmo, Barrios.
Forwards: Lamine Yamal, Varzabal, Ferran Torres, De Frutos, Samu, Jeremi Pino, Jesus Rodriguez.
