Huijsen misses out, Spain's world cup squad first without Real Madrid players

  /  autty

Spain has announced its squad for the 2026 World Cup, with Huijsen not selected and no Real Madrid players included.

This means that for the first time in Spain's 92 years of World Cup participation, the team's squad will not feature any players from Real Madrid. This summer's World Cup will be Spain's 17th appearance. Spain also did not call up Real Madrid players for the 2020 European Championship, but their squad that won the 2024 European Championship included three Real Madrid players: the departing Carvajal, and defenders Nacho and forward Joselu. Carvajal was not included in Spain's preliminary World Cup squad due to injuries over the past two seasons; Nacho and Joselu have since left Real Madrid.

Huijsen joined Real Madrid from Bournemouth last summer for approximately €50 million, making 40 appearances in all competitions in his first season. Real Madrid failed to win a major trophy for the second consecutive season.

Huijsen previously played for the Netherlands youth teams, switched to represent Spain in 2024, and made his senior national team debut the following year. He has played 7 times for Spain and started their first two World Cup qualifiers against Bulgaria and Turkey in September last year. However, due to injury, he subsequently withdrew from the national squad in October and November, missing the remaining qualifiers.

In Spain's World Cup qualifiers, Athletic Bilbao defender Laporte, Barcelona defender Cubarsí, and Atlético Madrid defender Le Normand rotated as center-backs.

Huijsen was included in Spain's squad for the March international friendlies and played the full 90 minutes in their 0-0 draw against Egypt.

Spain is in a World Cup group with Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, and Uruguay.

Related: Real Madrid Spain Dean Huijsen
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