Williams and Pino’s injuries overshadows Spain’s Uruguay triumph

2 min readJun 27, 2026 06:47 PM IST

Nico Williams on the left and Yeremy Pino on right. (AP photo)

Spain’s clinical 1-0 win over Uruguay was overshadowed by injury concerns, with reigning European champions now anxiously awaiting updates on the fitness of Yeremy Pino and Nico Williams. Courtesy of a goal from Alex Baena, Luis de la Fuente’s team topped the Group H table of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and will now face the runner-up of Group J in the round of 32 on 2nd July. However, they could be without two key attackers for that encounter.

Williams had already arrived at the tournament carrying a hamstring issue that forced him to miss Athletic Bilbao’s final three La Liga matches. Accordingly, he has been used only as an impact substitute by de la Fuente, but the Spanish coach will be sweating over a fresh injury he picked up on Friday. Replacing fellow winger Lamine Yamal in the 76th minute, Williams was seen in discomfort

Providing an update about the injury, de la Fuente said: “Nico was experiencing some slight discomfort. It could be a strain or just fatigue. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to know for sure.”

The bigger concern for the 2010 champions, however, will be the shoulder injury that Yeremy Pino sustained. Introduced in goalscorer Baena’s place in the 66th minute, Pino injured himself after an awkward landing during the dying stages of the game. Though he was able to complete the full 90 minutes, as Spain did not have any substitutions remaining, the Crystal Palace attacker’s agony was visible.

De la Fuente revealed after the game that Pino’s tournament could be over. “I am really sad about this, what really concerns me is Yeremy’s injury. It looks bad and there is a very strong possibility he will miss the rest of the tournament. It could be a collar bone injury. We’ll see, he’ll undergo tests tomorrow. He’s suffering a lot. He made a huge effort to hold on until the end of the game. It was heroic.” he said.