The Albany Gazette - Yamal injury hangs over Spain as Uruguay, Saudi seek Group H surprise

Barcelona's Yamal could reportedly miss Spain's opening two games against tournament debutants Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia due to the hamstring injury he suffered in April.

The 18-year-old is not the only injury worry for Luis de la Fuente with several of the key members of his Euro 2024-winning squad experiencing disrupted seasons.

Rodri, who won the Ballon d'Or off the back of Spain's success in Germany two years ago, has failed to bounce back to his best since suffering an cruciate knee ligament tear in September 2024.

Arsenal's Mikel Merino and Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams have also been included by De la Fuente despite missing most of 2026 for their clubs.

Even so, La Roja are expected to cruise into the knockout stages as they aim to follow in the footsteps of Spain's only previous world champions, who backed up winning the Euros in 2008 with victory on the global stage two years later in South Africa.

"This generation of players, this squad, is going to bring a lot of joy. It's already bringing joy to Spain," said De La Fuente.

"Do we feel favourites? Yes. Are we capable of winning the World Cup? Yes. Does this not guarantee anything? Yes.

"There are other countries at the same level as us. Not superior, but different."

Securing top spot in the group is vital for Spain's chances of success, with second place likely to face holders Argentina in the last 32.

Cape Verde appear lambs to the slaughter as their first opponents in Atlanta.

But the tiny island nation of less than 500,000 people shocked Cameroon in qualifying and reached the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations in 2023.

- Can Bielsa build bridges -

Uruguay are hoping that Bielsa can build bridges with his squad to avoid crashing out at the group stage for a second consecutive World Cup.

Bielsa will lead a third different nation to the World Cup but his famously exacting demands have caused friction after a bright start to his tenure.

Stinging criticism from the country's all-time top goalscorer Luis Suarez left Bielsa admitting his "authority was affected" amongst the rest of the dressing room.

Without retired strikers Suarez and Edinson Cavani, Real Madrid's Federico Valverde carries the hopes of the two-time winners.

Saudi Arabia also arrive in the States in a state of flux after Herve Renard was dismissed as coach less than two months before the start of the tournament and replaced by Georgios Donis.

Renard inspired a stunning victory over eventual champions Argentina in Qatar four years ago, but still failed to get the oil-rich Gulf nation out of the group stages.

The huge investment in bringing star names to the Saudi Pro League is yet to be reflected in an upturn in results for the 2034 World Cup hosts.

They have failed to get beyond the last 16 at the last four Asian Cups and last made the knockout stages of the World Cup when the United States hosted the competition 32 years ago.

(D.Sanchez--TAG)