The Barcelona sensation will most likely have to deal with the injury for the remainder of his bright career.
Lamine Yamal has been diagnosed with a ‘incurable’ disease that may have a long-term impact on his football career.
Yamal has established himself as one of the top players in the world after making his senior debut for Barcelona at the age of 15 in August 2023.
In 2024, he was instrumental in the success of both his club and his country, helping Spain win Euro 2024 and Barcelona win a domestic triple the previous season.
His recent performance saw him finish second in the 2025 Ballon d’Or rankings, trailing Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembele, and become the first player to win the Kopa Trophy for the second time.
However, in addition to his remarkable football career, the 18-year-old is suffering with a chronic groin problem that he may have to cope with for the remainder of his career.
During what many regarded as a poor performance in El Clasico, some observers noticed Yamal grimacing in discomfort, indicating that he was playing through an injury.
This season, the kid has missed multiple games for both Barcelona and Spain due to a groin ailment, and it is this injury that may haunt him in the long run.
Although Barcelona has not disclosed any official medical information, it has been widely rumored that Yamal suffers from pubalgia, a chronic groin injury that produces constant agony in the pubic region.
According to a report on the injury by Spanish outlet Sport, pubalgia is a very difficult condition, and while it’s impossible to estimate how serious Yamal’s problem is, he may never be fully recovered.
It states that pubalgia can have a variety of reasons, and that it is not a muscular damage that can be ‘fixed’ if it recovers.
Physiotherapist Lluis Puig explained the issue, saying: “First and foremost, pubalgia is not a muscle injury, but rather an alteration in the pubic area, where several muscles converge.
“We have to work on different levels, and we can’t say it’s an injury that will heal in a month.” No, we’ll have to live with it, and we’ll have to conduct preventative and compensating work to ensure his ability to play at the top level.”
Puig further stated that the injury could have been caused by a variety of circumstances, including how his posture and some muscles have changed with growing.
Meanwhile, in an interview with El Larguero, sports traumatologist Dr. Ripoll explained how Yamal’s injury will affect his skills on the football pitch.
“It’s a difficult injury to treat. It’s characterized by agony that limits the player’s ability to move and shoot by over 50%, just like we observed in El Clasico,” Dr. Ripoll added.
“It’s a disabling pain that allows the player to participate in matches but keeps him from his best level and significantly diminishes his performance.”
Yamal isn’t the only Barcelona player to have suffered from pubalgia; club hero Lionel Messi was treated for the condition thrice between 2000 and 2008.
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