Lamine Yamal sparks controversy after missing out on the Ballon d'Or

Lamine Yamal is at the center of a conflict involving Barcelona and Spain's national squad.

According to the ARA, Barcelona is trying to prevent Lamine Yamal from joining the Spanish national team for the upcoming World Cup 2026 qualifiers against Georgia and Bulgaria. Sources reveal that coach Hansi Flick plans to use Yamal, who recently returned from a hip injury in the victory over Real Sociedad last weekend, in matches against PSG in the Champions League and Sevilla in La Liga, before announcing that he will not be available for the national team during the FIFA international break in October.

Previously, Barcelona was extremely upset to discover that Yamal had to take painkillers to play in the World Cup 2026 qualifiers for Spain against Bulgaria and Turkey earlier this month. The Ballon d'Or runner-up came to the national team already carrying a hip injury, which worsened afterward, causing him to miss La Liga matches against Valencia, Getafe, Real Oviedo, as well as the Champions League opener versus Newcastle.

Coach Hansi Flick openly expressed frustration by confirming Yamal would miss the match against Valencia on September 14. The German tactician stated: “Lamine Yamal cannot play. He arrived at the national team in pain and was unable to train. They gave him painkillers to get on the field. In each match, even when the team was leading by at least three goals, he still played 73 and 79 minutes, but could not train between games. This is not proper player care. I am truly saddened by this.”

While the debate over Yamal’s fitness continues, both Barcelona and the Spanish national team have received warnings from FIFPRO. The players’ union released a report highlighting Yamal’s excessive workload since his breakthrough at age 15 in 2023. Statistics show the 2007-born prodigy has played 130 matches by age 18, whereas legend Andres Iniesta had only 40 matches at the same age, despite eventually reaching 674 appearances for Barcelona.

For now, Yamal is likely to feature in Barcelona’s lineup for the home game against PSG in the second round of the Champions League group stage.

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Yamal makes impressive return ahead of big Champions League clash In a tense La Liga match, Barcelona once again demonstrated their heavy reliance on prodigy Lamine Yamal as the 18-year-old came off the bench and immediately made an impact to help the Catalan club overcome Real Sociedad. See more