Spain's spain world cup squad 2026 left out Dean Huijsen on Monday morning. The 26-man group for North America also arrived with no Real Madrid players in it for the first time in history.
Huijsen and Spain
Huijsen had been in Spain's 55-man preliminary squad and had already played seven times for the national team. He was also coming off a debut season at Real Madrid in which he played 40 times after signing from AFC Bournemouth.
The omission lands harder because the defender had switched allegiance from the Netherlands and had posted on Instagram before the announcement that he had been included in Sofascore's team of the season. He also reposted a graphic from his father Don showing him alongside Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe and Federico Valverde.
De la Fuente's Squad Choices
Luis de la Fuente still trimmed several established names. Dani Carvajal was not considered after returning to fitness, while Robin Le Normand and Alvaro Morata also missed out.
Other notable omissions included Cristhian Mosquera, Isco, Alejandro Balde, Fran Garcia, Gonzalo Garcia, Pablo Barrios and Aleix Garcia. The list shows Spain did not take a reputation-first approach to the squad and left room for players who fit the manager's final selection.
Lamine Yamal and the Attack
Lamine Yamal made the 26 despite being a major doubt for Spain's first game against Cape Verde. He joins Dani Olmo, Nico Williams, Yeremy Pino, Ferran Torres, Borja Iglesias, Víctor Muñoz and Mikel Oyarzabal in a forward group built around pace and depth.
Spain's final squad for North America also includes Unai Simón, David Raya and Joan García in goal, plus Marc Cucurella, Alejandro Grimaldo, Pau Cubarsí, Aymeric Laporte, Marc Pubill, Eric García, Marcos Llorente and Pedro Porro at the back. In midfield, Pedri, Fabián Ruiz, Martín Zubimendi, Gavi, Rodrigo Hernández, Álex Baena, Mikel Merino and Mikel Oyarzabal give de la Fuente eight more options, but the headline remains the same: no Real Madrid player is going to the World Cup with Spain.
