Fermin Lopez Turns a World Cup Miss Into a Four-Goal Start

Fermin Lopez scored twice on his La Liga return at Elche on August 23, 98 days after a fifth-metatarsal fracture. Barcelona won 5-0. He has not stopped scoring since.

The 23-year-old missed Spain’s World Cup after surgery in May. Hansi Flick now has a midfielder on four goals from four league games, which is not the modest “available for the opener” return the club talked about in July.

Two Goals at Elche, 98 Days After the Break

Elche was Barcelona’s first league match of 2026-27, after the opening weekend had been pushed back a week. Fermin started. He finished the night with both of his shots on target and both in the net.

Raphinha put Barcelona ahead from the spot in the 14th minute and later made it 3-0. Karim Adeyemi, on his league debut, scored in first-half stoppage time. Gavi went off injured at the break and Pedri replaced him. Then Anthony Gordon, back from the World Cup Fermin never reached, rolled a ball across the box in the 71st minute.

Fermin finished with his right foot. Eight minutes later academy midfielder Xavi Espart found him again, and he spun his marker and scored with his left. Matias Dituro was beaten twice from the centre of the box. The scoreboard read 5-0, and the player who had been a doubt for pre-season had just taken the game.

He played the full 90. FotMob gave him a 9.0. Flick had his first league win of a title defence, and he had it with a midfielder who, in May, could not complete a home match against Real Betis.

A Broken Metatarsal Ended His World Cup

The injury hit on May 17 at Spotify Camp Nou. Fermin started the 3-1 win over Betis and lasted 45 minutes. Barcelona later confirmed a fracture to the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot and said he would need surgery.

On May 19, Dr Antoni Dalmau Coll carried out a successful operation of the fifth metatarsal at Hospital de Barcelona, with the club’s medical staff overseeing the work. The club refused to put a number on the layoff. Evolution, it said, would decide the date.

Spain’s squad was due on May 25. The tournament opened on June 15 against Cape Verde. Fermin had seven caps and no international goals, and he had just signed through 2031. He posted from the other side of the operation anyway.

The operation went very well and I’m already looking forward to coming back stronger, both physically and mentally. Life and football can be cruel when you least expect it or deserve it. But you have to accept that it’s all part of the journey. It’s a very tough time for me and yet another challenge in my career that I will overcome, of that you can be sure. Now it’s time to support the national team and my team-mates from home.

Fermin Lopez, Barcelona midfielder, on Instagram

Pedri had seen him the day after the break and said he was in a bad way. Missing a World Cup, Pedri added, is a blow for everyone around the player, not only for the player.

He Could Not Watch Spain’s Opening Matches

The cruel part was the calendar. Fermin had just played the most productive season of his career, with 13 goals and 17 assists in 48 games as Barcelona won the league. Then the bone in his right foot went, in the penultimate round, and the summer that was supposed to be a first senior World Cup became a rehab block in El Campillo and at the Ciutat Esportiva.

By late July he was in England with the squad and talking to Catalunya Radio. He did not dress it up.

It’s been the worst summer of my life. I was at my peak, everything was going well, and then the injury happened. At first I couldn’t watch the Spain matches. It was tough, as I also wanted to be there and play, since I was in my best form. Towards the end of the World Cup I felt a bit better and decided to go see the final live in New York.

Fermin Lopez, Barcelona midfielder, on Catalunya Radio

He said he needed help, and that his family, his partner, his friends and a coach who was already in his life got him through it. He also said the win meant a lot, because those were his teammates, especially the Barcelona players in the squad. The same summer that emptied his June filled his July with gym work, running, and the ball, under physiotherapist Jose Cortes.

On June 18 he had already posted a clip of last season and a short line: don’t worry, I’ll be back soon. The July interview was the first time he described what that wait had actually felt like.

How Long the Metatarsal Layoff Lasted

Flick’s group reported on July 13. Fermin was not in full sessions. The club’s public line that week was patience: travel to the England camp at St George’s Park (July 27 to August 3), maybe a few minutes against Birmingham City on July 31, and a real target of the Elche weekend of August 22-23. Transfermarkt still carries the fifth-metatarsal fracture on his injury record from May 17 through July 31, 76 days and one league game missed at the end of 2025-26.

FROM BETIS TO THE FIRST 90

1. May 17, 2026: Fractures the fifth metatarsal of his right foot against Real Betis and goes off at half-time in a 3-1 win.
2. May 19, 2026: Has surgery at Hospital de Barcelona under Dr Antoni Dalmau Coll.
3. July 13, 2026: Pre-season starts without him in the main group; individual pitch work continues with Jose Cortes.
4. July 31, 2026: Travels with the squad and sits unused in a 2-2 draw at Birmingham City.
5. August 8, 2026: Plays 90 minutes in a 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest; unused the same day against Udinese.
6. August 23, 2026: Starts at Elche, plays 90, scores in the 71st and 79th minutes of a 5-0 win.

The Birmingham cameo never came. That was the point of the plan. He got his first 90 at Forest 16 days before Elche, then 64 minutes in a 5-2 win at Basel on August 16 and 46 minutes in a 2-1 win over Al Ahly on August 19. On Catalunya Radio he had said he felt no discomfort and that, if things went well, he could play a few minutes in the Gamper. He was well past a few minutes by the time the league started.

Four League Games Have Brought Four Goals

The Elche brace was not a one-night burst. Four league matches into the season, FotMob has him down for four goals and two assists in 281 minutes, with three starts, a 8.21 average rating, and zero league goals against Barcelona while he has been on the pitch.

FERMIN LOPEZ IN LA LIGA, 2026-27

The Athletic goal came in the 82nd minute of a 2-0 home win, again from a starting role in central midfield. Rayo was the one off-night in the sample, a 26-minute cameo in a 5-2 win. At Valencia on September 6 he started again, scored in the 22nd minute (Gordon the assist), and filled out the sheet with two assists, for Lamine Yamal and Raphinha, in a 5-0 away win. FotMob’s rating that night was 9.3. He also picked up his first yellow of the season.

THE SHOOTING BEHIND THE FOUR

• Shots: 10 taken, 8 on target, 1 against the woodwork.
• Expected goals: 2.73 xG and 4.29 xGOT, so the finishes are running ahead of the chances.
• Box work: 22 touches in the opposition area from 197 total touches.
• Table around him: Barcelona are 4-0-0 for 12 points, with 17 scored and 2 conceded.

Last season’s 6 league goals came across 30 appearances. Four in four is a small sample, and it will cool. It is still a different player from the one who left the Betis match at half-time, and it is a different output from the “link up in a couple of weeks” brief of mid-July.

The club’s own account posted him on September 9 with a short caption, Fermín is lovin’ it, after the Valencia haul and on the morning of the Champions League opener.

https://x.com/FCBarcelona/status/2097505274424967354

Flick Already Has the Midfield Fight He Wanted

Fermin’s value last season was energy, goals, and the ability to play as a 10, a central midfielder, or off the left. That is the same brief now, except the finishing has jumped. Flick does not have to protect him. He has to pick him, or explain why not.

WHO FLICK CAN THROW INTO THE SAME BAND

• Pedri: Came on for Gavi at Elche and remains the side’s first organiser when Flick wants control.
• Gavi: Lasted 45 minutes at Elche before the injury forced him off, so his minutes are already being managed.
• Frenkie de Jong: Still in the group after a torn knee ligament and no surgery, a different medical file in the same midfield.
• Dani Olmo: Started ahead of Fermin against Feyenoord on September 9, which is the selection argument in one lineup card.
• Fermin Lopez: Shirt 7, 4 league goals already, and a stated willingness to wait for the next nod.

After the Feyenoord win he was asked about fighting Pedri, Gavi, Olmo and the rest for a start. His answer was flat. Competing with top players to start, he said, is what happens when you are at the best team and the best club. When the coach wants to rely on him, he will be ready.

That is not a soft landing after a lost World Cup. It is the posture of a player who spent June unable to watch the tournament, July on a grass rehab plan, and August scoring in the first league match he was cleared to start. Flick’s problem is the one every title defence wants: too many bodies for one band, and one of them is finishing at a rate the rest of the group has to live with.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Injury Kept Fermin Lopez Out of the World Cup?

A fifth-metatarsal fracture in his right foot, suffered against Real Betis on May 17. Orthopaedic surgeon Pedro Luis Ripoll, asked to describe the injury at the time, said that bone can break from poorly shared load through the foot or from a sharp ankle twist, and that the usual fix is a cannulated screw to compress the fragments. He put the time to training at about two months, with more weeks needed before competitive minutes.

How Many Games Did Fermin Lopez Miss at the End of Last Season?

Transfermarkt records one league game missed after the Betis night, because the injury landed in the penultimate round. The same log shows two earlier muscle layoffs in 2025-26, one of 28 days from September 21 to October 18 (6 games) and one of 10 days from November 27 to December 6 (2 games), so the metatarsal was his third absence of that season.

Has Fermin Lopez Played in a Major Tournament for Spain?

Yes, though not the 2026 World Cup. He was in the Euro 2024 squad and played 28 minutes on the way to the title, then led the scoring charts with 6 goals at the 2024 Paris Olympics as Spain won gold. He had 7 senior caps and 0 goals when the metatarsal injury ended his World Cup.

What Shirt Number and Contract Does Fermin Lopez Have at Barcelona?

He wears 7. His deal runs to June 30, 2031, after an extension signed in January 2026. He joined La Masia as an under-14 in 2016-17, went on loan to Linares in 2022-23 (12 goals in the third tier), and has been a registered first-team player since 2024.

When Did Fermin Lopez First Play After the Surgery?

His first minutes after the operation were 90 in a 1-0 pre-season win at Nottingham Forest on August 8. He was an unused substitute at Birmingham City on July 31 and again against Udinese on August 8, then stepped up through Basel (64 minutes) and Al Ahly (46) before the Elche start on August 23.

He played 19 minutes in a 5-1 Champions League win over Feyenoord on September 9, coming on for Raphinha at 71. Flick can start him or close a game with him. Fermin has already said he will be ready either way.