Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Spain faces Uruguay in a crucial World Cup Group H match aiming to secure top spot in the group.
- The European champions are managing the workload of a Lamine Yamal, who has been instrumental in their recent success.
- All eyes will be on whether the young star can deliver another impactful performance despite concerns over his stamina.
Will European Champions Spain cement top spot in World Cup Group H? Luis de la Fuente's team endured something of a false start this summer, held to a 0-0 draw by debutants Cape Verde, despite having 23 shots and 74% possession. However, six days later, Spain very much got back on track, swatting aside Saudi Arabia 4-0, three up inside 24 minutes, with Mikel Oyarzabal scoring twice.
However, it was the return of Lamine Yamal the made the biggest difference. His back-post goal from close-range opened the floodgates at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday, but will the teenager be in the starting lineup against Uruguay in Guadalajara too?
Lamine Yamal injury update: Good to go
Before the tournament, this is the fixture that Lamine Yamal was aiming to make a return in, but he actually recovered quicker than expected. The 18-year-old suffered a hamstring injury against Celta Vigo at Camp Nou on April 22, leading to fears that this could impact his tournament.
Well, he was only fit enough to come off the bench late on against Cape Verde, with this cited as a key reason why they could not find the breakthrough against the Blue Sharks. Nevertheless, against Saudi Arabia in Atlanta, he made such a difference, clearly the best player on the pitch, before being sensibly substituted at half time by de la Fuente, with the match clearly won.
Thus, Lamine Yamal's minutes do need to be carefully managed, given that Spain plan on sticking around in North America for quite a while longer, hoping to play five more matches after this one. Nevertheless, needing to beat Uruguay to make sure of top spot, expect the Barcelona superstar to start, even if he's unlikely to last the full 90 minutes.
Lamine Yamal's staggering Spain statistics
By opening the scoring against Saudi Arabia, Yamal became only the the tenth man to score at a World Cup before their 19th birthday. Ibrahim Mbaye of Senegal and Bosnia's Kerim Alajbegović have both also added their names to this list this summer. Alongside those two, only Pelé, Manuel Rosas, Gavi, Michael Owen, Miklós Kovács and Dmitri Sychev have found the net at the World Cup at a younger age than Yamal.
He was exactly a fortnight younger than Lionel Messi when he bagged the first of his record-breaking 18 World Cup goals against Serbia & Montenegro in Gelsenkirchen two decades ago. In total, Yamal has scored seven times for la Roja thus far. He strike against Georgia in Tbilisi made him Spain's youngest-ever scorer, while he also curled home an astonishing attempt during the Euro 2024 semi-final win over France in Munich. Thus, with the teenager fit and firing, Spain will be tough to stop at this World Cup.
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