Luis de la Fuente confirms Lamine Yamal is 'available' for England clash as Spain stretch unbeaten run
Luis de la Fuente has confirmed Lamine Yamal is "available" for Spain's Nations League meeting with England on Sunday, with the Barcelona forward rejoining the squad on Friday.
"He's available and he's joining us today," the Spain coach said.
Yamal sat out Thursday's 2-0 win over Czechia in Prague with knee pain. It was the first game he has missed for club or country this season, having scored 17 goals and laid on 13 assists in 20 games for Barcelona and Spain.
Spain coped without him. Atlético Madrid pair Álex Baena and Marc Pubill scored the goals as the world champions made it five wins from five in Nations League Group A3, stretching their unbeaten run to 43 games. Their last defeat came against Colombia in March 2024.
England kept pace with a 2-1 win over Croatia at Wembley and sit three points behind La Roja. Both sides have already reached the quarterfinals, so Sunday's game at the Metropolitano decides who finishes top of the group.
'Both will be with us'
Real Sociedad striker Mikel Oyarzabal also missed out in Prague but will return for England too. De la Fuente delivered the news on both forwards after the Czechia win. Both players were on the scoresheet when Spain won 3-2 at Wembley in September.
"There is some good news," he said. "Lamine Yamal is feeling good now and is really looking forward to joining the squad [on Friday]."
"Mikel is also doing better. One will arrive around midday and the other a little later, but both will be with us [for England]."
The Spain coach is relishing the occasion, but admitted the streak cannot last forever. "We want to maintain this momentum going forward and extend this run," De la Fuente said.
"The thing is, with every match that goes by, defeat gets closer. That's just how it is, but we're happy and appreciate what we're achieving."
