FIFA World Cup 2026: Spain announces 26-man squad; zero Real Madrid players make the cut

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary. The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Spain coach Luis de la Fuente announces his squad for FIFA World Cup 2026 at an event in Madrid, on May 25, 2026. | Photo Credit: Reuters Spain named injured forward Lamine Yamal in the 26-man squad for the FIFA World Cup 2026, which, for the first time, will feature zero players from Real Madrid. Also read | FIFA World Cup 2026: Thomas Tuchel drops big names from England squad The 18-year-old Yamal tore his left hamstring in an April 22, 2026, game for FC Barcelona and missed the rest of the club's La Liga campaign. Previous reports said that Yamal could miss Spain's World Cup opener, but coach Luis de la Fuente said he had "no doubt" about the availability of the young star and also others who are dealing with fitness concerns. "We're very calm," de la Fuente said. "I think that if there are no setbacks, we can almost have everyone available from the first game. The doctor and fitness coach have been visiting the clubs and talking to them. We've been coordinating. ... I have no doubt they'll be ready for the first game, and if not, they'll be ready for the second." On Monday (May 25, 2026), de la Fuente announced his roster during an event in Madrid, notably leaving out Real Madrid defenders Dean Huijsen and Dani Carvajal, and striker Gonzalo Garcia. Also absent are injured Barcelona midfielder Fermin Lopez, as well as, Como forward Alvaro Morata, 33, who captained the winning side at the UEFA EURO 2024. "It's difficult," de la Fuente said of leaving players out. "We think about every possible scenario that can happen in games with our opponents, and their characteristics.... We've chosen these 26. I think we've covered the needs of the team. ... I don't look at whether they play for one team or another." Number two in the FIFA world rankings behind France, Spain is in Group H with Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, and Uruguay. Spain opens their campaign against Cape Verde on June 15, 2026, in Atlanta, before playing Saudi Arabia on June 21, also at the same venue, and Uruguay on June 26, in Guadalajara, Mexico. The 2010 World Cup champions will warm up for the competition with friendlies against Iraq on Thursday (June 4, 2026) in La Coruna, Spain, and against Peru on June 8 in Puebla, Mexico. Goalkeepers: Unai Simon, David Raya, Joan Garcia Defenders: Marc Cucurella, Pau Cubarsi, Aymeric Laporte, Alejandro Grimaldo, Pedro Porro, Eric Garcia, Marcos Llorente, Marc Pubill Midfielders: Gavi, Rodri, Pedri, Martin Zubimendi, Fabian Ruiz, Alex Baena, Mikel Merino Forwards: Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, Dani Olmo, Ferran Torres, Mikel Oyarzabal, Yeremy Pino, Borja Iglesias, Victor Munoz Copyright© 2026, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

FIFA World Cup 2026: Spain announces 26-man squad; zero Real Madrid players make the cut

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FIFA World Cup 2026: Spain announces 26-man squad; zero Real Madrid players make the cut

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