Why is Barcelona star Lamine Yamal not playing for Spain?
Luis de la Fuente’s men take on Scotland at La Cartuja this evening but teenage sensation Lamine Yamal has returned to Barcelona.
Spain will be attempting to reduce Scotland’s lead at the top of Group A when the two teams face each other in this evening’s European qualifier at La Cartuja. Luis de la Fuente’s team are second in the group and six points behind the Scots but with a game in hand.
Barça sensation Lamine Yamal was originally included in the coach’s 24-man squad for the Scotland game and the following one against Norway, even though he was carrying an injury. The Catalan club issued a medical report on Monday, while Lamine was en route to Madrid. The diagnosis was an injury to psoas iliacus muscle in the player’s left leg. The 16-year-old underwent fresh tests on arrival which confirmed the injury and quit the team camp to return to Barcelona the following day.
The young forward will effectively miss both of this month’s qualifiers for Euro 2024 in which both Spain and Scotland could secure their place in the tournament. Lamine Yamal’s absence is significant as he holds dual nationality (he was born in Spain, his mother is Moroccan) and as things stand, could still theoretically be called by Morocco.
Eligibility criteria
According to FIFA’s eligibility rules, a player with dual nationality can switch national teams if they have not played a maximum of three international games (official or not), or if they have not appeared for their national team in three years or more since making their debut.
Lamine Yamal was handed his first cap in the 1-7 win over Georgia on 8 September, to become, at 16 years and 57 days, the youngest player to debut for Spain’s senior side in history. The teenager crowned his debut by wrapping up the scoring on 74 minutes.
He featured in the starting XI in the following match against Cyprus, and played for the first hour before he was replaced by club team mate Ferran Torres.
Lamine still needs to make one further appearance for Spain before he is considered ineligible to play for Morocco. That could happen during the next international break when the European qualifying group phase is concluded. Spain will face Cyprus in Kolossi on 16 November then host Georgia three days later in Valladolid. If Lamine plays in either of those games he will be fully committed to playing for Spain.