Lamine Yamal Ruled Out for Season Following Muscle Tear, Ending Pursuit of Raúl González Record

Lamine Yamal’s 2026 season ends with a hamstring injury, stopping him just short of breaking Raúl González’s single-season scoring record for under-18s.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 24, 2026, 8:01 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from YSScores

A Promising Campaign Cut Short by Injury

The meteoric rise of Lamine Yamal has faced a sudden physical setback following an official medical announcement from FC Barcelona on Thursday, April 23, 2026. The 18-year-old forward suffered a significant hamstring injury, specifically a tear in the biceps femoris of his left leg, shortly after scoring the winning penalty in a mid-week fixture against Celta Vigo. While the club's conservative treatment plan is expected to have him fit for Spain's World Cup campaign in June, his domestic season is prematurely over, leaving a gap in Hansi Flick's attacking rotation during the league's final stretch.

The Elusive Record of a Madrid Legend

The timing of the injury is particularly poignant as Yamal was on the verge of claiming one of the most prestigious youth records in Spanish football history. Real Madrid icon Raúl González has held the record for the most goals scored in a single La Liga season before turning 18 since the 1995/1996 campaign, where he netted 19 times. Yamal ends his current season with 16 goals in 28 league appearances, leaving him just three strikes short of equaling the milestone. With six games remaining, the Barcelona winger had been widely expected to surpass the record before the injury intervened.

Rewriting the Century Milestone History

Despite the disappointment of the scoring record, Yamal’s 2025/26 season remains a historic achievement in terms of longevity and impact at a young age. Earlier in April, the Rocafonda-born winger became the youngest player in the history of the Spanish top flight to reach 100 appearances, doing so at 18 years and 272 days. This achievement saw him comfortably surpass Raúl’s previous benchmark of 19 years and 284 days set in 1997. His ability to maintain such a high level of consistency has established him as the undisputed centerpiece of the current Barcelona project.