dean huijsen was left out of Spain’s 26-man World Cup squad on Monday morning, a selection call that removed Real Madrid from Spain’s roster for the first time in history. Luis de la Fuente also left out several other established names, but Huijsen’s omission stood out because he had been in the preliminary group and had already become a Spain international.
Huijsen And Spain
Huijsen has seven caps for Spain after switching his international allegiance from the Netherlands. He joined Real from AFC Bournemouth and played 40 times in his debut season, which made his omission from the final squad more striking than a routine trim from 55 to 26 players.
Before the announcement, he posted on Instagram that he had been included in Sofascore’s team of the season. He also reposted a graphic from his father, Don, that placed him alongside Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe and Federico Valverde. By Monday morning, that buzz had been overtaken by the squad decision.
Real Madrid Shut Out
Spain will go to the World Cup without a single Real Madrid representative for the first time in history. Dani Carvajal was not considered after returning to fitness, while Robin Le Normand, Alvaro Morata, Arsenal defender Cristhian Mosquera, Isco, Alejandro Balde, Fran Garcia, Gonzalo Garcia, Pablo Barrios and Aleix Garcia were also left out.
The squad still includes a large Barcelona core, with Pau Cubarsi, Eric Garcia, Joan Garcia, Gavi, Pedri, Dani Olmo, Ferran Torres and Lamine Yamal named by de la Fuente. Lamine Yamal was described as a major doubt for Spain’s first game against Cape Verde, but the larger story on Monday was the absence of Madrid players altogether.
For Huijsen, the hit is immediate: he was in the 55-man preliminary squad and had put himself in position for a first World Cup call. Instead, Spain’s final list closed without him, and without any Real Madrid player beside him.
