Spain Welcomes Back Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams to Training

Spain’s first real victory of this World Cup week came long before a ball is kicked in Atlanta.

On Thursday, both Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams stepped back onto the training pitch, easing the knot of anxiety that had formed around La Roja’s preparations for their opener against Cape Verde on Monday. Two of the brightest stars of Euro 2024 are back in the grass-and-sweat routine that made them champions.

For Luis de la Fuente, that sight will have felt like a tactical plan and a headache dissolving at once.

Yamal, the Barcelona prodigy who lit up the Euros, had not played since pulling up with a hamstring injury on April 22. Every sprint he missed for his club sharpened the concern for his country. Williams, the relentless winger from Athletic Bilbao, had also been sidelined, absent for the final stretch of his club’s season for the past month.

Both carried scars from a long campaign. Both are central to Spain’s attacking identity.

The coaching staff have handled them with care. Earlier this week, De la Fuente made it clear he expected the pair to feature at this World Cup, but he reined in the hype: involvement, yes; a starting role in the opener, unlikely. The message was measured, the priority obvious — Spain want them fit for the tournament, not just for one night in Atlanta.

Inside the camp, the mood around their return is lighter than any medical bulletin.

“We know that both of them are coming back from important injuries,” right-back Pedro Porro told reporters. “They are recovering, they are happy, they are with the group and that is the most important thing.”

Happy. With the group. For a squad that leans heavily on rhythm and chemistry, those are not throwaway details. Spain’s wide players are asked to do everything: stretch the pitch, attack the full-back, press high, and still have the calm to pick the final pass. Losing two specialists in that role would have reshaped the entire game plan.

For now, it doesn’t have to.

Same structure, new stand-ins

Spanish media expect De la Fuente to resist the temptation to rush his stars back. Reports indicate he will stick with the XI that beat Peru 3–1 in their final warm-up friendly, a performance that blended control with enough incision to reassure the coaching staff.

That means Alex Baena and Ferran Torres are likely to keep their places on the flanks against Cape Verde, deputising for Yamal and Williams. They are different profiles — Baena more of a drifting creator, Ferran a direct runner and penalty-box threat — but the shape remains familiar. The message to the squad is clear: the system stands, the roles are defined, and nobody is guaranteed a shirt.

Spain’s opener in Atlanta now carries a slightly different tone. Instead of feeling like a scramble to cover absences, it becomes an audition. Baena and Ferran have the stage, Yamal and Williams are back in the wings, literally and figuratively, building fitness and waiting for the right moment to re-enter the show.

For a team with genuine ambitions of going deep into this World Cup, that balance between patience and urgency could define the month ahead.