Spain manager Luis de la Fuente has named his 26-man World Cup squad, as La Roja seek their second ever star on their shirt. De la Fuente himself has described Spain as one of the favourites for the tournament, and the Euro 2024 champions certainly part at the front of the peloton with France, England and Argentina.
The build-up to the World Cup has been plagued by injury doubts, with Mikle Merino having only just recovered from injury after several months out. Similarly, Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal are both coming back from hamstring injuries that ruled them out of the final weeks of the LaLiga season. Worse still, Fermin Lopez has been ruled out after a metatarsal fracture.
Gavi has featured for just a single minute for Spain last summer during the Nations League semi-finals since his cruciate ligament injury in 2023, but has been included in the squad by de la Fuente. Barcelona teammates Eric Garcia and Joan Garcia have also made the 26-man squad, despite relatively meagre involvement in recent years. Atletico Madrid defender Marc Pubill has also made it into the squad after a breakout season at centre-back.
Meanwhile up front, Celta Vigo forward Borja Iglesias has been given the call-up as La Roja’s target man alternative, and Osasuna’s Victor Munoz retains his spot in the squad after impressing in the March international break, his first appearances for Spain.
With Garcia’s inclusion comes one of the headline absences from the squad, as Real Madrid’s Dean Huijsen misses out. Long-time third-choice goalkeeper Alex Remiro has also missed out in favour of Joan Garcia, following the latter’s excellent season at Barcelona.
Pubill’s inclusion also sees club teammate Robin Le Normand drop out of the team, which combined with Dani Carvajal’s absence, and Alvaro Morata’s exit from recent Spain squads, makes it three players from their starting XI in the Euro 2024 final that have not been included.
Goalkeepers: Unai Simon, David Raya and Joan Garcia.
Defenders: Marcos Llorente, Pedro Porro, Eric Garcia, Marc Pubill, Aymeric Laporte, Pau Cubarsi, Marc Cucurella and Alejandro Grimaldo.
Midfielders: Pedri, Fabian Ruiz, Martin Zubimendi, Gavi, Rodri Hernandez, Alex Baena and Mikel Merino.
Forwards: Mikel Oyarzabal, Dani Olmo, Nico Williams, Yeremy Pino, Ferran Torres, Borja Iglesias, Victor Munoz and Lamine Yamal.
