Dean Huijsen expected to be omitted from Spain’s World Cup squad, no Real Madrid players for first time
Luis de la Fuente has named Spain’s 2026 World Cup squad, with no Real Madrid players included for the first time in the competition’s history and Lamine Yamal set for his World Cup debut.
The Athletic reported the omission of Real Madrid defender Dean Huijsen on Monday, and this was later confirmed by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), meaning for the first time in their 92 years of competing at the World Cup, Spain’s squad will not feature any representatives from the country’s most decorated club.
Barcelona star Yamal, 18, will go to his first World Cup, but is expected to miss his side’s opening match due to a hamstring injury and is a doubt for the second group game.
Barca team-mate Gavi is included after returning from seven months out with a knee injury and starting seven of Barcelona’s final eight games of the season. Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino is also selected having returned to action during the final game of the season following four months out with a foot injury.
Athletic Club’s Aymeric Laporte, Barcelona’s Pau Cubarsi and Eric Garcia and Atletico Madrid’s Marc Pubill have been selected ahead of Huijsen at centre-back, while Atletico’s Robin Le Normand also misses out.
Nico Williams missed the final three matches of Athletic Club’s season with a left hamstring injury but was expected to be fit for the World Cup and is named in the squad. Williams has not hit the heights of previous seasons, with six goals and three assists from 25 appearances in La Liga during an injury-hit campaign.
This summer’s tournament will be Spain’s 17th World Cup appearance. They also did not take any Madrid players to the 2020 European Championship, but there were three representatives in the country’s Euro 2024-winning squad: the departing Dani Carvajal, who did not make Spain’s provisional World Cup squad after his past two seasons were disrupted by injury, plus defender Nacho and striker Joselu, who have since left the club.
Spain have been drawn alongside Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay in their World Cup group.
What were De la Fuente’s biggest calls?
Analysis from Barcelona correspondent Pol Ballus
Luis de la Fuente’s list came with the prevalence of his two biggest principles: assuring a good dressing room harmony and trusting players who have already delivered under him — despite some of those selected set to arrive at the World Cup with doubts over their fitness.
Lamine Yamal is the leading name and Spain’s biggest star. There were no doubts about his inclusion, despite him missing the opening game against Cape Verde and potentially the second match too — and he is not the only player in that situation.
Nico Williams will be on the plane despite having undergone a very inconsistent season, very impacted with injuries, as well as Mikel Merino. Both players have been fundamental in De la Fuente’s tenure as a national manager, and they have been rewarded for that.
The boldest calls have been in the defensive line. There is only one centre-back in the list from the Spain squad that won the European championship in 2024 — Aymeric Laporte. Pau Cubarsi has finally been included this time, and the manager gave the nod to two of the most in-form players of this season in La Liga: Atletico de Madrid’s Marc Pubill and Barcelona’s Eric Garcia. They have replaced Robin Le Normand and Dean Huijsen, who had been selected in previous call-ups.
The squad also outlines the intentions of a potential change of the guard in goal. De la Fuente broke the goalkeeping union that he had formed over the past few years to include Barca’s Joan Garcia. It was inevitable, in fairness, given Garcia has had an outstanding season compared to Real Sociedad’s Alex Remiro, who’s been left out.
In midfield, Barcelona star Gavi has earned his place back with the team after an excellent end of the season. He returned from injury last March and started seven out of the last eight La Liga games with the Catalans.
Finally, there’s a group of specialists too. Borja Iglesias is the designated target man upfront that can be needed in desperate situations and Victor Munoz, one of the breakout players in Spain this term, will be the X-factor coming off the bench. Munoz had two excellent performances playing on the wing with Spain last March.
‘History-making Real Madrid absence a reflection of club’s season’
Analysis by Real Madrid correspondent Guillermo Rai
The news is not only a disappointment for Dean Huijsen, but also a reflection of Real Madrid’s season as a whole.
At the start of the campaign, at least four players looked to have a real chance of making the Spain national football team squad: captain and right-back Dani Carvajal, left-back Alvaro Carreras, striker Gonzalo Garcia and, of course, Huijsen himself.
But the lack of trophies — and, above all, a season marked by inconsistency, uncertainty and negativity — ended up damaging all of their chances.
The only one still fighting for a place until the very end was Huijsen, whose development suffered once Xabi Alonso began to question his role in the team.
(Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
There were matches in which the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium crowd even whistled him, while muscular problems also prevented him from performing at his best.
He eventually bounced back, though, and produced a composed display in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 win over Manchester City F.C..
But in the following round, Alvaro Arbeloa surprisingly left him out of the starting XI for the decisive second leg, instead trusting the experience of Antonio Rudiger and Eder Militao.
Despite the enormous potential he showed, that lack of continuity ultimately hurt Huijsen’s chances. The positive for him is that he will have many more opportunities in the future.
At the same time, the situation has sparked debate inside Madrid. With presidential elections on the horizon, the club may have to ask itself whether it is making the right decisions regarding Spanish players — and whether it should strengthen its commitment to them even further.
Spain 2026 World Cup squad in full
Goalkeepers: Unai Simon, David Raya (Arsenal), Joan Garcia (Barcelona)
Defenders: Marc Cucurella (Chelsea), Alex Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen), Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona), Aymeric Laporte (Athletic Club), Marc Pubill (Atletico Madrid), Eric Garcia (Barcelona), Marcos Llorente (Atletico Madrid), Pedro Porro (Tottenham)
Midfielders: Pedri (Barcelona), Fabian Ruiz (PSG), Martin Zubimendi (Arsenal), Gavi (Barcelona), Rodri (Manchester City), Alex Baena (Atletico Madrid), Mikel Merino (Arsenal)
Forwards: Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Dani Olmo (Barcelona), Nico Williams (Athletic Club), Yeremy Pino (Crystal Palace), Ferran Torres (Barcelona), Borja Iglesias (Celta Vigo), Victor Munoz (Osasuna), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)
