Lamine Yamal to Miss Spain vs Peru Friendly as He Continues Hamstring Rehab

Spain will be without 18-year-old winger Lamine Yamal for their final pre-World Cup friendly against Peru on 9 June (kickoff 02:00 UTC), with the Barcelona forward continuing to rehabilitate a left hamstring injury. The absence matters because Spain are using this window to confirm fitness ahead of their World Cup opener on 15 June against Cape Verde.

Why it matters

Yamal is one of Spain’s most influential attacking options, and his availability will shape Luis de la Fuente’s options across the group stage. Spain are targeting limited minutes for Yamal in the early World Cup fixtures, and the coaching staff want him fit for the tournament’s opening match on 15 June. Missing the final friendly removes one more low-risk opportunity for match minutes and final sharpness.

What the staff have said and the scale of the issue

According to the Spain camp update, Yamal is rehabbing a hamstring injury in his left leg that already prevented him from finishing the club season with Barcelona and kept him out of last Thursday’s 1-1 friendly draw with Iraq. De la Fuente told reporters that Yamal, Nico Williams and Víctor Muñoz remained at Spain’s World Cup base in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to follow individual rehabilitation programmes. On the timetable, de la Fuente said: “All three are within the timeframe to be able to arrive in good condition to play on the 15th; we don’t know the exact minutes, but Lamine’s injury was different from Nico’s and Victor’s. Each one has their own process and duration, but the most important thing is that within the parameters we have, they can be met for the 15th—they will be met so that they are with us in a position to be lined up at some point during the match.”

Current squad picture and the Peru friendly

Yamal’s absence is joined by fellow attackers Nico Williams and Víctor Muñoz, who are also staying behind to continue rehab work. Spain travelled to Puebla, Mexico, for the Peru game at Estadio Cuauhtémoc, where, at the time of the most recent match update, Spain lead Peru 1-0 in the first half (match status per provided match_data).

De la Fuente’s projected starting XI for the Peru friendly was a 4-3-3 setup: David Raya in goal; Marcos Llorente, Pau Cubarsi, Aymeric Laporte and Marc Cucurella across the back; Pedri, Rodri and Fabián Ruiz in midfield; and Ferran Torres, Mikel Oyarzabal and Dani Olmo in attack. Peru were projected to line up 4-2-3-1 with Pedro Gallese in goal.

Key points

• Lamine Yamal is not playing in Spain’s final pre-World Cup friendly against Peru while rehabbing a left hamstring injury.
• He missed Spain’s previous friendly, a 1-1 draw with Iraq, after finishing the club season sidelined at Barcelona.
• Nico Williams and Víctor Muñoz are also remaining at Spain’s base in Chattanooga to continue rehabilitation.
• De la Fuente says all three are in the timeframe to be available for Spain’s World Cup opener on 15 June, though exact minutes are undecided.
• Per match_data, Spain led Peru 1-0 in the first half of the friendly at the time of the latest update.

How this affects Spain’s World Cup preparation

Missing Yamal from a final warm-up reduces one option for live minutes before the World Cup group stage, so Spain will need other players to pick up the attacking spark in training and in the Peru game. The coaching staff appear to prefer a cautious route: get Yamal right rather than rush him back for extra prep matches. That approach leaves Spain able to integrate him gradually in tournament matches if the medical team clears him.

What happens next

Spain are targeting the 15 June World Cup opener against Cape Verde as the date by which Yamal should be fit to feature, albeit with limited minutes expected in the first two group fixtures (against Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia) and a fuller return aimed for the final group game versus Uruguay. The immediate next step is the completion of his rehabilitation at the team base in Chattanooga and continued monitoring by Spain’s medical staff ahead of the tournament.