Fermin Lopez set to miss World Cup after foot fracture
Spain and Barcelona have been dealt a brutal blow on the eve of the World Cup, with midfielder Fermin Lopez expected to miss the tournament after suffering a fractured foot.
The 23-year-old broke the fifth metatarsal in his right foot during Barcelona’s 3-1 win over Real Betis on Sunday, an injury that instantly darkened the mood around a routine league victory. The club confirmed the fracture and announced he will undergo surgery, but stopped short of putting a date on his return.
They barely need to. Football knows this injury too well.
Fifth metatarsal fractures typically sideline players for two to three months, a timescale that collides head‑on with Spain’s preparations for the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. For Lopez, who has become one of Barcelona’s most influential midfielders over the past two seasons, the timing could hardly be worse.
World Cup dream all but gone
Lopez has seven caps for Spain and, on form, looked a near-certainty for Luis de la Fuente’s squad. The national team coach will name his list on Monday, 25 May, with Spain due to open their Group H campaign against Cape Verde in Atlanta on Monday, 15 June (17:00 BST). Uruguay and Saudi Arabia complete a group that suddenly looks very different for De la Fuente without one of his most dynamic midfield options.
The World Cup was set to be Lopez’s second major international tournament, after he featured—briefly but memorably—for 28 minutes during Spain’s successful Euro 2024 campaign. This was supposed to be the next step, the moment he moved from promising squad piece to established pillar.
Instead, he faces an operating theatre and a long, careful rehabilitation.
A familiar, unforgiving injury
Clubs and national teams shudder when they hear “fifth metatarsal.” The bone may be small, but the consequences rarely are.
Manchester United and Argentina defender Lisandro Martinez knows that better than most. He 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. That kind of case sits in the background of every medical decision around Lopez now.
Barcelona will tread carefully. Spain, almost certainly, will have to move on without him.
From rising star to central figure
Lopez’s absence is not just a theoretical loss on a squad list; it rips out a piece of Barcelona’s and Spain’s recent identity.
Over the past two seasons he has grown from exciting prospect into a regular starter at Barcelona, helping the Catalans secure back‑to‑back La Liga titles. This year he has been relentlessly productive: 13 goals and 17 assists in 48 appearances in all competitions, numbers that would be impressive for a forward, let alone a midfielder.
He produced that output despite twice being hampered by groin injuries during the campaign, each time fighting his way back into the side and back into rhythm. That resilience made his World Cup place feel like a reward as much as a selection.
Now, that reward is slipping away.
Spain will still travel to North America with quality and depth. De la Fuente will still unveil a squad built to compete deep into the tournament. But when the list is read out on 25 May, one of the names not on it will say plenty about how cruel football can be at the very moment a career seems ready to explode.
