Luis de la Fuente \u200cstressed that Spain\u2019s badge outranks any club crest on Tuesday after naming a \u200bWorld Cup squad with a distinctly Barcelona hue and, for the \u2060first time, no Real Madrid player in sight.<\/p>\n
The European champions head into next month\u2019s tournament among the favourites, with De la Fuente\u2019s 26-man squad built around eight Barcelona players and none from the Spanish \u200ccapital\u2019s biggest club, bringing the fierce El Clasico rivalry into the national team\u2019s debate.<\/p>\n
Defenders Dean Huijsen and Dani Carvajal were among the Real Madrid names \u200cto miss out on a team chasing Spain\u2019s second World Cup title after \u200ctheir \u20602010 triumph in South Africa.<\/p>\n
De la Fuente dismissed the idea that the \u2060decision could cost him support among Real Madrid fans.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, the greatest team there is \u2014 the very greatest \u2014 is the Spanish national team,\u201d De la Fuente said during a breakfast with media representatives organised by Spanish public \u200bbroadcaster RTVE and news agency EFE.<\/p>\n
\u201cI \u200cdon\u2019t look at where players come from or their background. What matters are Spanish players who are proud to represent their country\u2019s national team and to be part of a united nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
YAMAL \u2018RARING TO GO\u2019 AS HE RECOVERS FROM INJURY<\/p>\n
Barcelona\u2019s contingent comprises Joan \u200cGarcia, Pau Cubarsi, Eric Garcia, Gavi, Pedri, Dani Olmo, Lamine Yamal and Ferran \u200bTorres, while seven players called up are based in the Premier League.<\/p>\n
The manager said sporting considerations alone guided his selection, even if squad decisions \u2060inevitably carried a subjective element.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe day I make a mistake, fail to make the right choice, or act in a way that might be beneficial just to get a result, \u200cI\u2019m putting my job on the line,\u201d he said. Spain open Group H against Cape Verde before facing Saudi Arabia and Uruguay, but De la Fuente may yet take a cautious approach with Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams and Mikel Merino, who are all recovering from fitness concerns.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in contact with all the clubs,\u201d he said. \u201cWe know that these players are in good physical shape; each one is making good progress in their recovery process. \u200cI\u2019m very optimistic; I think they\u2019ll be available for the first match.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, De la Fuente said Spain\u2019s view \u200bstretched beyond the opener.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we have to take a risk, mate, we\u2019ll take it in a World Cup,\u201d he said. \u201cBut… our view goes beyond \u2060the first match and also the second. So, if we have to wait a little longer, \u2060we\u2019ll wait.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Yamal, the 18-year-old Barcelona winger expected to carry much of Spain\u2019s attacking threat, De la Fuente said youth had not dimmed his sense of \u200coccasion.<\/p>\n
\u201cYamal is absolutely thrilled and raring to go,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019s a very young lad, just 18, but he has a remarkable sense of maturity and knows that this \u200bis his moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to seize the moment. And he knows this is his moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Published on May 26, 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Luis de la Fuente \u200cstressed that Spain\u2019s badge outranks any club crest on Tuesday after naming a \u200bWorld…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29761,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[92,2266,1913,1882,1593,927,313,14928,14922,938,4888,1416,368,5417,83,9523,1437,1743,17,14927,3691,14926,14923,14924,14925,14921,3003],"class_list":["post-29760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-barcelona","tag-cape-verde","tag-dani-carvajal","tag-dean-huijsen","tag-el-clasico","tag-eric-garcia","tag-football","tag-group-h","tag-how-many-barcelona-players-were-selected-by-luis-de-la-fuente","tag-lamine-yamal","tag-luis-de-la-fuente","tag-marc-pubill","tag-mikel-merino","tag-nico-williams","tag-real-madrid","tag-rtve","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-soccer","tag-spain","tag-squad-announcement","tag-uruguay","tag-what-is-the-fitness-status-of-lamine-yamal-ahead-of-the-world-cup-opener","tag-what-was-luis-de-la-fuentes-response-to-criticism-over-his-squad-selection","tag-which-real-madrid-defenders-were-left-out-of-the-national-team","tag-who-are-spains-group-h-opponents-in-the-2026-world-cup","tag-why-are-there-no-real-madrid-players-in-spains-2026-world-cup-squad","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29760\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}