Good news for Luis de la Fuente just three days before the World Cup opener. Victor Muñoz rejoined the Spanish national team's training sessions this Friday, one day after Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams also did. Thus, the coach now has all 26 called-up players available to prepare for the debut against Cape Verde. Spain will play their first match of the World Cup on Monday, June 15th at 6 PM.
The main takeaway from the locker room is clear: there are no injuries, and all internationals are now training normally, meaning La Roja enters the debut with the entire squad fit to participate. Until now, Lamine Yamal, Nico, and Victor himself had been following a specific recovery plan in Chattanooga, and for that reason, they did not travel to Puebla for the preparatory friendly against Peru.
The most anticipated return was that of Lamine Yamal. The Barcelona winger rejoined the group this Thursday along with Nico Williams after several days of training separately and specific sessions to regain fitness. In Lamine Yamal's case, Spain has been cautiously managing his recovery since the injury sustained on April 22nd against Celta, while Nico had been dealing with a muscular issue since May. Both had already trained with the group in Chattanooga and took an important step towards the debut.
However, it is expected that neither Lamine nor Nico will start against Cape Verde. The team's plan is to manage their return cautiously, although they might get minutes if the match allows. In the case of the Barcelona player, even Luis de la Fuente had hinted that he could be available to participate in the opener, always within a progressive comeback.
Spain, based in Chattanooga during the group stage, has set up its operations center there: they are staying at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Chattanooga Downtown and training at the Baylor School facilities. From this headquarters, they have been recovering players until finally completing the full squad.
Three days before the debut, therefore, the news for De la Fuente is excellent: everyone is available and there are zero casualties. Now, the only decision left is how to distribute the efforts and what role players like Lamine Yamal or Nico Williams will have in Spain's first World Cup test.
