Lamine Yamal is reportedly expected to miss Spain’s World Cup opener and is also a doubt for the nation’s second fixture of the tournament in an unsettling twist for the European champion.
Barcelona’s prodigious teenager has been sidelined since tearing his hamstring exactly 50 days before the start of the tournament. Hopes were initially high that Yamal would return in time for his first World Cup, with Spain boss Luis de la Fuente almost certain to include a player he has described as “touched by God” whatever his state of fitness.
