Fermin Lopez Injury Leaves Spain Without Midfield Star for World Cup

Spain look set to head to the World Cup without one of their sharpest emerging talents. Fermin Lopez, the Barcelona midfielder who has forced his way into both club and country this season, has fractured the fifth metatarsal in his right foot and is expected to miss the tournament.

The injury came in Barcelona’s 3-1 win over Real Betis on Sunday, a routine league victory that may carry a heavy international cost. Lopez went down with what initially looked innocuous. It was anything but.

Barcelona later confirmed the fracture and announced that the 23-year-old will undergo surgery. The club stopped short of putting a date on his return, but the type of injury tells its own story. Fifth metatarsal breaks routinely sideline footballers for two to three months and can be unforgiving if rushed.

Lisandro Martinez knows that better than most. The Manchester United and Argentina defender had surgery on the same bone in April 2023, missed the rest of that season, and only returned at the start of the following campaign before aggravating the injury again in September. It is the kind of precedent that makes medical teams cautious and World Cup dreams fragile.

For Lopez, the timing could hardly be worse. He has become a fixture in Barcelona’s midfield over the past two seasons, growing from promising squad option into reliable starter in a side that has won back-to-back La Liga titles. This year he has added end product to his energy and bite: 13 goals and 17 assists in 48 appearances in all competitions, achieved despite twice being interrupted by groin problems.

That surge in form translated to the national team. Lopez has seven caps for Spain and had placed himself firmly in the thoughts of coach Luis de la Fuente ahead of the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. On this trajectory, he was not just in contention; he was widely expected to travel.

De la Fuente names his squad on Monday, 25 May. The likelihood now is that one of the most dynamic midfield options on his board will be reduced to a name on the injury list.

Spain open their Group H campaign against Cape Verde in Atlanta on Monday, 15 June (17:00 BST), before taking on Uruguay and Saudi Arabia. It is a group that demands control, invention and legs in midfield – all qualities Lopez has supplied in abundance for Barcelona.

For the player, this World Cup was set to be the next step on a rapidly accelerating international journey. He featured, albeit briefly, in Spain’s Euro 2024 triumph, playing 28 minutes across the tournament. The World Cup would have been his second major finals, and his first with a realistic chance of a significant role.

Instead, he faces surgery, rehabilitation and the familiar grind of starting again. Spain, meanwhile, must redraw their plans without a midfielder who had finally made himself impossible to ignore.