The tug-of-war between Barcelona and the Spanish national team over teenage sensation Lamine Yamal has resurfaced once again. Just a month after the previous dispute, fresh tension has erupted as the young winger suffers another injury setback ahead of Spain’s crucial World Cup qualifiers.
Yamal’s Injury Sparks Another Club vs Country Clash
Last month, Barcelona wanted to rest Yamal, who had just recovered from an injury, and opposed his call-up to the national team. However, Spain coach Luis de la Fuente still included the 18-year-old in the squad, only for him to be ruled out due to injury soon after.
Now, ahead of Spain’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers — against Georgia on November 15 and Turkey on November 18 — Yamal’s name was again included in the national team list. But the youngster suffered a groin injury during club duties and underwent treatment in Barcelona without notifying the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝑭𝑬𝑭 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕: “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒑 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒀𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒍 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂 𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒐𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒖𝒓𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑹𝒆𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 7–10 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔.”
Spain Expresses Concern, Barcelona Defends Decision
Spain’s football federation expressed disappointment, claiming Barcelona did not inform them in advance about Yamal’s medical procedure. However, once they received confirmation of his condition, Spain allowed him to return to his club for recovery.
The federation added, “Given the circumstances and the player’s health, his safety and well-being are our top priority. Therefore, Yamal has been released from the national team squad.”
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick, on the other hand, criticized the Spanish national team, accusing them of ignoring player welfare. This ongoing tension has now sidelined Yamal from two World Cup qualifiers and five Barcelona matches across competitions.
De la Fuente “Surprised” by Situation
Coach De la Fuente expressed his frustration over the unexpected development, saying:
“𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒍. 𝑾𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒖𝒑 — 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆, 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅.”
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be held in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, Spain needs just two points from their upcoming games to secure qualification. Currently, they top Group E with 12 points from four matches, followed by Turkey (9 points) and Georgia (3 points). Bulgaria, meanwhile, remains at the bottom with zero points.
This latest Yamal saga has once again reignited the Barcelona vs Spain conflict, raising concerns about player management and communication between the two footballing giants.
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