The 23-year-old was forced off at half-time during Barcelona's 3-1 La Liga victory over Real Betis on Sunday with pain in his right foot. Initial assessments raised concern, and scans on Monday confirmed a fracture to the fifth metatarsal that required surgical intervention.
The operation took place at the Hospital de Barcelona under the direction of doctor Antoni Dalmau Coll and was supervised by the club's medical services. Barcelona did not specify a recovery timeline, though a fracture of this nature typically requires at least six to eight weeks, which effectively rules López out of Spain's entire World Cup campaign. The Selección open against Cape Verde on June 15.
López was expected to be included in De la Fuente's final 26-man squad, having been a consistent presence in the national team setup and one of his strongest midfield options. The announcement leaves Spain without one of their most dynamic attacking midfielders for the tournament and opens a spot for another player.
His teammate Pedri, speaking at an Adidas event on Tuesday, did not hide how the news had affected López.
"He was really gutted. Missing the World Cup is not something you can take lightly. I can only tell him to recover. It's a blow for all of us. I get on really well with him. But he has to recover — football is that cruel sometimes. I wish him a speedy recovery."
López contributed 13 goals and 17 assists across 48 appearances for Barcelona this season in what has been the finest campaign of his career. He also won Olympic gold at Paris 2024 with Spain, scoring twice in the final, and was part of the squad that claimed the European Championship that same summer.
Spain have additional injury concerns heading into the tournament. Lamine Yamal has been sidelined since late April with a left hamstring problem and is unlikely to be available for the group opener, while Rodri and Mikel Merino have both experienced fitness issues at different points of the season.