{"id":984572,"date":"2026-05-25T21:34:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T21:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/984572\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T21:34:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T21:34:25","slug":"no-real-madrid-players-in-spain-world-cup-squad-for-the-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/984572\/","title":{"rendered":"No Real Madrid players in Spain World Cup squad for the first time"},"content":{"rendered":"

MADRID (AP) \u2014 Spain\u2019s World Cup<\/a> squad does not include Real Madrid players for the first time though injured forwards Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams were picked on Monday.<\/p>\n

Yamal<\/a> and Williams<\/a> suffered leg muscle injuries in the past month. However, coach Luis de la Fuente expects them to be fit for the start of soccer\u2019s showcase.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not going to speed up any process, we are in coordination with the clubs,\u201d De la Fuente said. \u201cThe information we have is that they will all be ready for the first or the second match. You always want to be careful, but if there\u2019s a time when the players may want to take risks it\u2019s at the World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

The unveiling of the squad was made with a video that included Spain King Felipe VI and other citizens making the name announcements.<\/p>\n

Defenders Dean Huijsen and \u00c1lvaro Carreras were among the Madrid players contending for Spain\u2019s squad but they were left out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t look at the clubs, these are national team players,\u201d De la Fuente said. \u201cThe only thing I want is for them to be proud of representing the national team. I don\u2019t look at it like maybe the fans may look at it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madrid will have players at the World Cup for other nations, including France\u2019s Kylian Mbapp\u00e9, Brazil\u2019s Vin\u00edcius J\u00fanior and England\u2019s Jude Bellingham.<\/p>\n

Madrid endured a second consecutive season without a major title while La Liga champion Barcelona has produced eight players in Spain\u2019s squad.<\/p>\n

Barcelona midfielder Ferm\u00edn L\u00f3pez<\/a>, who broke his right foot this month, was sidelined for Spain as expected. Other players not picked by De la Fuente included veterans \u00c1lvaro Morata, Dani Carvajal, Isco and Marco Asensio.<\/p>\n

Midfielder Mikel Merino, who played only once for Arsenal since injuring his foot in January, was back in the squad. Also included despite an injury layoff this year was Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Fabi\u00e1n Ruiz.<\/p>\n

Gavi, who missed Euro 2024 because or a knee injury, was called up for a midfield that will also include Barcelona teammate Pedri. Another Barcelona player going is 19-year-old defender Pau Cubars\u00ed.<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s preparations will begin on Saturday. It plays warmup matches against Iraq on June 4 and Peru on June 9.<\/p>\n

The European champion opens its Group H campaign against Cape Verde on June 15 in Atlanta. It then faces Saudi Arabia on June 21 in Atlanta and Uruguay on June 26 in Guadalajara, Mexico. La Roja is seeking its second World Cup title.<\/p>\n

It rebounded from a round-of-16 elimination by Morocco<\/a> at the 2022 World Cup by winning Euro 2024<\/a> in Germany. La Roja also won the 2023 Nations League<\/a> and was runner-up to Portugal<\/a> in the 2025 edition.<\/p>\n

Spain hasn\u2019t gone past the last 16 in the World Cup since its lone title in 2010.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Spain:<\/p>\n

Goalkeepers: Unai Sim\u00f3n (Athletic Bilbao), David Raya (Arsenal), Joan Garc\u00eda (Barcelona)<\/p>\n

Defenders: Marc Cucurella (Chelsea), Alejandro Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen), Marcos Llorente (Atletico Madrid), Pau Cubars\u00ed (Barcelona), Aymeric Laporte (Athletic Bilbao), Pedro Porro (Tottenham), Eric Garc\u00eda (Barcelona), Marc Pubill (Atletico Madrid)<\/p>\n

Midfielders: Rodri (Manchester City), Mart\u00edn Zubimendi (Arsenal), Pedri (Barcelona), Mikel Merino (Arsenal), Fabi\u00e1n Ruiz (Paris Saint-Germain), Gavi (Barcelona), \u00c1lex Baena (Atletico Madrid)<\/p>\n

Forwards: Lamine Yamal (Barcelona), Y\u00e9remi Pino (Crystal Palace), Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), V\u00edctor Mu\u00f1oz (Osasuna), Borja Iglesias (Celta Vigo), Nico Williams (Athletic Bilbao), Dani Olmo (Barcelona), Ferran Torres (Barcelona)<\/p>\n

___ AP soccer: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/fifa-world-cup<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MADRID (AP) \u2014 Spain\u2019s World Cup squad does not include Real Madrid players for the first time though…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":984573,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5312],"tags":[273758,273756,89943,6167,20661,65095,163760,273748,48181,22356,163761,273751,24926,10306,273749,2000,299,68957,6537,23570,19560,34777,192202,273750,273757,2676,3274,49257,273754,121037,273755,273753,2132,25173,100667,273746,21897,25565,544,11720,6506,10031,104,273747,79,273759,22710,273752],"class_list":["post-984572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-alejandro-grimaldo","tag-alex-fernandez","tag-alvaro-morata","tag-arsenal-fc","tag-atlanta","tag-aymeric-laporte","tag-borja-iglesias","tag-ca-osasuna","tag-central-america","tag-crystal-palace-fc","tag-dani-olmo","tag-daniel-carvajal","tag-david-raya","tag-dean-huijsen","tag-eric-garca","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-fabian-ruiz","tag-fc-barcelona","tag-ferran-torres","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-gavi","tag-guadalajara","tag-isco","tag-joan-garca","tag-jude-bellingham","tag-latin-america","tag-marc-cucurella","tag-marc-pubill","tag-marco-asensio","tag-marcos-llorente","tag-martn-zubimendi","tag-mexico","tag-mikel-merino","tag-mikel-oyarzabal","tag-nicholas-williams","tag-pedri","tag-pedro-porro","tag-real-madrid","tag-rodrigo-hernandez","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-soccer","tag-spain","tag-spain-national-soccer-team","tag-sports","tag-unai-simon","tag-uruguay","tag-vctor-muoz"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/984572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=984572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/984572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/984573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=984572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=984572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=984572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}