Fermin out of the World Cup, Yamal still not close to return

Many countries have already announced their provisional (or even final) lists for the upcoming World Cup. Among them is one of the favorites, France, who is full of stars. On Monday May 25th, another big favorite, Spain, will announce their travelers to the USA, Mexico and Canada. But manager De la Fuente already has a problem: Fermin Lopez won’t be available. The young Barcelona star was substituted during the game with Real Betis after getting a knock. Today, the bad news became official. Barcelona released a medical report stating that he has a fracture in the fifth metatarsal of his right foot. Unfortunately, this means he will miss the World Cup, as he will need surgery and is expected to be out for six to eight weeks.

Another Barcelona player and Spain’s biggest star Lamine Yamal will participate, but is still injured and his actual participation date is unknown. The player himself wasn’t able to give any indications when will it happen, but it’s been reported that he will certainly miss the opening World Cup game. He could make his debut against Saudi Arabia in the second match on June 21. According to some reports in the Spanish press, a more cautious scenario envisions him making his debut in the final group match against Uruguay on June 27. When Yamal was asked by the press, he smiled and gave a pretty clear answer, which says a lot about his cautious approach towards recovery: "I'm not going to touch a ball until the World Cup".