The 2026 World Cup is almost here and excitement is building for the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
There any many talking points heading into the tournament, from who will lift the trophy, to how the weather will affect the football. But one that has also dominated conversation is the involvement of Lamine Yamal.
We take a look at Yamal’s international record, current form and Spain‘s qualifying campaign, as well as other factors that could determine whether the young star will play at the 2026 World Cup.
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Lamine Yamal’s international record
Yamal is only 18 years of age, and will turn 19 a six days before the World Cup final. Despite his young age, Yamal has already racked up 25 appearances for Spain’s senior team. He made his debut aged 16 years and 57 days, coming off the bench in a Euro 2024 qualifying match against Georgia. In doing so, Yamal became the youngest-ever player in Spain’s history. But he wasn’t done with the record-breaking, also becoming Spain’s youngest-ever scorer in the same game.
Yamal missed the next international break through injury, but has been a big part of the senior setup since. The teenager has only missed international callups through injuries, and was absent for most of Spain’s World Cup qualifying campaign. Before that, though, Yamal played a key role in Spain winning Euro 2024.
The teenager scored one goal and provided four assists to help Spain lift the trophy, including setting up the opening goal in the final. His four assists was the most at Euro 2024, and helped him win the Young Player of the Tournament award.
Overall, Yamal has scored six times for Spain, with another three goals coming in the 2025 Uefa Nations League as La Roja reached the final. Yamal’s performances in 2025 saw the teenager finish second in the Ballon d’Or race that year, but he did pick up a second consecutive Kopa Trophy.
Lamine Yamal’s World Cup record
While Yamal shone at Euro 2024, this will be his first-ever World Cup. Unsurprisingly, of course. Yamal was only 15 during the 2022 World Cup, and hadn’t even made his Barcelona first-team debut.
Yamal was just breaking into Spain’s Under-17 side in 2022, but he wasn’t part of their U17 World Cup squad the following year. By that point, Yamal had already become part of Spain’s senior squad, though his absence was still a talking point.
To further put Yamal’s age into perspective, he celebrated his third birthday two days after Spain won the World Cup in 2010. In his lifetime, Yamal has seen Spain win the World Cup in 2010, knocked out of the group stage in 2014 and exit in the last-16 in 2018 and 2022.
Will Spain be at the 2026 World Cup?
Spain waltzed through qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. Owing to their participation in the Uefa Nations League finals, Spain were part of a four-team qualifying group so only had to play six matches.
La Roja won five of their six games, finishing three points clear of second-placed Turkey. The only dropped points came in a draw with Turkey in the final group match, when Spain had essentially already secured their place at the World Cup — baring a seven-goal thrashing.
This will be Spain’s 17th World Cup overall and 13th consecutive tournament. They’ve won the trophy once before, lifting it in 2010. But they have struggled since, with a group-stage exit and two last-16 knockouts.
Spain have been drawn into Group G of the 2026 World Cup, alongside Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay. They’re expected to advance to the knockout stages, especially with the new format allowing some third-placed teams to qualify.
Lamine Yamal’s form in 2025-26
Yamal was a key player for Barcelona as they won La Liag in 2025-26, even with some injury issues. The teenager played 28 times in La Liga and was directly involved in 27 goals, scoring 16 and providing 11 assists. The latter was the most in the league, while Yamal also sat fourth in the Pichichi race for the topscorer.
Yamal’s goal involvement record was excellent, averaging 1.07 per 90 minutes. Those numbers are world class when you consider Yamal isn’t a substitute making impact against tired legs. He’s a starter and ashs been causing chaos across a larger sample of matces.
The Barcelona man also ranked top in La Liga for big chances created per 90, at 1.03, with 2.86 chances created per 90 overall. He attempted 9.64 take-ons per 90 with 5.28 completed, the latter the second-best return in La Liga. In totals, though, no one could match Yamal’s 133 take-ons completed per 90. Yamal was one of the most dangerous players in La Liga, and was tough for opposition defences to stop.
Yamal only played four games for Spain during the 2025-26 campaign, but still managed three assists. They all came in World Cup qualifying, including two in a 6-0 win over Turkey.
Will Lamine Yamal play at the 2026 World Cup?
So, the big question, will Yamal play at the World Cup?
The teenager is in Spain’s 26-man squad for the tournament, but things aren’t overly clear. Yamal is currently injured and hasn’t played football for club or country since 22nd April. He had to come off just before half-time in Barcelona’s league win over Celta Vigo, having scored the only goal of the game.
A day later, Barcelona confirmed that Yamal would miss the remainder of the club season, but was expected to be available for the World Cup.
Spain manager Luis de la Fuente is optimistic that Yamal will be available to face Cape Verde in their opening game on 15th June. But he wasn’t committing to the teenager actually playing.
“He’s getting better fast, hitting all the targets earlier,” De la Fuente told the Guardian.
“I think he’ll be able to play the first game, but that doesn’t mean [he will]. We’ll evaluate if he has to play a little bit, not play, wait for the second game.”
Further reports have claimed that Yamal will feature in the opening game, and then Spain’s next match against Saudi Arabia on 21st June. But both appearances will reportedly come off the bench. The reports state that Spain’s main aim is for Yamal to get his first World Cup start in the final group game, against Uruguay, on 26th June.
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