Lamine Yamal Available as Spain Aims for Euro-World Cup Double

Spain will walk into their World Cup opener with their brightest young star available and their ambitions laid bare.

Lamine Yamal, the Barcelona prodigy who scared a nation when he pulled up with a hamstring injury in April, has been declared in “perfect condition” to face Cape Verde on Monday, according to head coach Luis de la Fuente.

For Spain, that changes the mood. This is not just another group game. This is the first step in an attempt to join one of football’s most exclusive clubs.

Only three countries have ever held the European Championship and World Cup at the same time. Spain know the feeling from their golden era, and after reclaiming the European crown in Germany two years ago, they now chase that double again.

To do it, they must rewrite a messy recent World Cup history.

Since lifting the trophy in 2010, La Roja have stumbled on the biggest stage: a group-stage collapse, then two straight exits in the last 16, both decided by penalties. One World Cup win in their last six matches – that 7-0 demolition of Costa Rica in 2022 – is a poor return for a team that so often dominates the ball but not the bracket.

This time, the numbers point their way. Opta’s supercomputer has Spain as outright favourites to win the tournament. The data believes. Now the team has to follow.

And having Yamal back on the pitch, even in controlled bursts, is a major boost.

“The good news is that Lamine is in perfect condition,” De la Fuente told reporters in his pre-match press conference. “He's arrived at this point in the state in which we wanted him to be. He's fine, just like Nico [Williams] and Victor [Munoz]. They're all available, although some won't play the entire game.”

The message is clear: the weapons are ready, but will be used carefully.

“The doctors say Lamine can play tomorrow without any issues. Not to play 90 minutes, but to play some minutes, yes. The process [with Williams] is similar.”

Yamal missed the run-in of Barcelona’s 2025-26 campaign after that April hamstring problem, sparking a race against time to be fit for the finals. Spain have monitored him closely, building him back up without rushing. Now comes the payoff.

The coach hinted that both Yamal and Nico Williams could share the stage if the contest demands it.

“They've been working together a lot of days, a lot of hours, and with the relationship they have, they've been happy. They could play, if we think the game demands it.”

It is an enticing prospect. Two fearless wide men, both capable of tearing open low blocks, both ready to stretch defences that try to sit in and suffer. Against Cape Verde, who will expect long spells without the ball, that kind of direct threat could tilt the game quickly.

While fitness questions dominated the build-up, transfer talk found its way into the room as well. Reports have linked Marc Cucurella with a move from Chelsea to Real Madrid, a potential switch that would reshape the defender’s club future on the eve of a World Cup.

De la Fuente brushed aside any concerns about distraction and instead doubled down on his faith in the left-back.

“If it's good news for Cucu, or someone else, we'll celebrate it,” he said. “I don't talk about clubs, but if you ask me about Cucurella for the national team, he's convincing.

“He's been with us since he was 17. I know his performance, the quality and potential he has. He might be one of the best left-backs in the world, without doubt.”

That kind of endorsement underlines how settled this Spain squad feels under De la Fuente. Many of these players have grown up in the national-team system together, carrying the same ideas from youth level to the senior stage.

Even so, the World Cup has not been kind to them in the last decade and a half. One semi-final in their last 14 participations, and that came in 2010 when they went on to win it all. For a country of Spain’s stature, that record bites.

Cape Verde will not care about the history or the algorithms. They will see a chance to frustrate a heavyweight still scarred by knockout failures and shoot-out heartbreak.

Spain, though, arrive with their key attackers fit, their left-back trusted, and the weight of expectation on their shoulders once again.

The numbers say they should win this World Cup. The question, starting on Monday, is whether this generation can finally play like it.