Spanish FA outraged at Barcelona over Lamine Yamal squad withdrawal

Martin Macdonald

• 11 Nov 2025 08:01 CST
• 4 min read

Nieuws

Lamine Yamal has withdrawn from the Spain squad for the final international break of the year after undergoing treatment on a recurring groin injury.

And, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has expressed its “surprise and displeasure” after seeing the Barcelona star pull out of international duty.

Yamal had a procedure on Monday to ease the pain in his groin after struggling with the injury for most of the current season. The RFEF claim that they were not made aware that this procedure was taking place until the day it actually happened.

The 'invasive radio frequency' procedure took place on Monday morning and the RFEF were only told on Monday afternoon. Thereafter, they received a medical report which stated that the player must now rest for a period of between seven and 10 days which obviously rules him out of action for Spain's World Cup Qualifying matches versus Georgia and Türkiye.

The RFEF released Yamal from the squad for “the player’s health and wellbeing” but are perturbed that they cannot utilise their star man for these qualifiers. If Barcelona and Yamal made the RFEF aware of the procedure, then head coach Luis de la Fuente could have made plans for the two games without him involved.

This is the second international break in a row that Yamal will miss after he pulled out of Spain's October matches due to the same groin issue.

In the September break, he took pain killers to play and Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick criticised the RFEF for their use of the winger.

More Yamal-Spain drama

The teenager has struggled to stay out of the headlines this season. Amid concerns over his long-term fitness because of the groin problem, the winger’s behaviour both on and off the field has come in the spotlight.

He was central to an angry clash following Barcelona’s loss in El Clasico to Real Madrid in October while there have been reports that he is unpopular with Spain team-mates at a national team level.

A recent report indicated that certain members of the national team are unhappy with the way the player acts.

Indeed, it has been claimed that some senior players even told De la Fuente to leave the Barcelona star at home.

El Nacional claims: “Some see the attitude of a precocious star. They say he's no longer the quiet, focused kid he was a year ago. He seems arrogant, even distant. In a locker room that values unity over egos, this is starting to weigh on them.”

De la Fuente has previously been public in his support for Lamine, explaining in March: “What do I demand from Lamine? To keep enjoying football, to keep doing what he likes, to keep understanding football the way he does.

“What do I demand from the rest of you [the media]? To understand that he is not a mature player yet. He still needs to grow.

“He can get really far, but it's you guys who criticise him and want to 'kill' him.”

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