For the first time in 16 World Cup tournaments, Spain's national team will head to the finals without a single Real Madrid player. Luis de la Fuente named his 26-man squad on Tuesday and somehow — intentionally or not — managed to blank the most decorated club in the history of the game.
Dean Huijsen, Dani Carvajal and Gonzalo García all missed out. Huijsen's exclusion stung the most. The 21-year-old joined Real Madrid from Bournemouth for €62.5 million last summer, played 27 La Liga games, and was named in the league's Team of the Season. His father Donny posted that graphic shortly after the squad dropped. Dean then reposted it. Nobody needed a caption.
Barcelona's squad, Spain's squad
De la Fuente insists he doesn't look at club badges when picking players. The final 26 suggests otherwise. The Barcelona core that won Euro 2024 is back intact — Yamal, Pedri, Gavi — and the Real Madrid contingent is entirely absent. Whether that's merit or something murkier, the optics are hard to ignore.
Lamine Yamal's inclusion was expected despite the hamstring tear he suffered in April. De la Fuente says he has "no doubt" Yamal will be ready for the June 15 opener against Cape Verde. Spain's World Cup odds rest heavily on that being true.
The emotional headline belongs to Gavi. Two serious injuries in three years — an ACL in 2023 that cost him Euro 2024, then another setback earlier this season — and yet here he is, in tears when his name was read out, with Yamal filming the whole thing on his phone. "This one feels different after all the suffering," Gavi wrote on Instagram. Hard to argue with that.
Álvaro Morata, who captained Spain to European glory last summer, is also out. De la Fuente is building young and building fast.
Elsewhere: Messi wobbles, Boyle battles, and the US family drama resurfaces
Lionel Messi turned 39 on June 24 — right in the middle of the tournament — and Inter Miami's confirmation that he limped off against Philadelphia Union with "muscle fatigue" is the kind of news that makes Argentina's odds twitch. It's not a serious injury, the club says. But fatigue at 38, heading into a six-week tournament Argentina are expected to go deep in, is worth watching closely. He's done it before under an injury cloud — Qatar 2022 being the obvious example — but this is a different body than that one.
Martin Boyle is fighting for a Socceroos spot after his ACL injury wiped out Qatar entirely. He was there in 2022, just not on the pitch — travelling with the squad, heavily medicated, trying to keep spirits high during Australia's run to the last 16. "I was in a lot of pain," he said. "But I just tried to be my normal self around the boys." He wants more than a support role this time. Whether Tony Popovic agrees is another matter.
The United States squad leaked before the official announcement, with both Gio Reyna and Sebastian Berhalter — sons of the two families whose falling-out became one of American soccer's messiest storylines — expected to be named by Mauricio Pochettino. Reyna's selection isn't universally popular after a disappointing spell at Borussia Mönchengladbach, with MLS standout Diego Luna missing out instead. Alexi Lalas, meanwhile, told the current US generation to stop "whining" about pressure, calling them the most resourced group in American soccer history and expecting them to show for it. He's not wrong that the bar has been set and repeatedly missed.
Adrian Segečić, the Australian-born attacker who switched allegiance to Croatia, was left out of Dalić's final 26 but made the standby list after scoring 11 goals for Portsmouth this season. He defected from the Socceroos pathway and ended up on the outside looking in — not the outcome he would have planned for.
- Spain's squad omits Real Madrid players for the first time in 16 World Cups
- Lamine Yamal included despite hamstring injury; De la Fuente confident he'll be fit for June 15
- Gavi returns after two serious injuries; Morata dropped entirely
- Messi limped off for Inter Miami but Inter confirmed it as fatigue, not structural damage
- Martin Boyle pushing for Australia selection after missing Qatar through ACL surgery
- Gio Reyna and Sebastian Berhalter both expected in USMNT squad despite families' public feud
- Adrian Segečić misses Croatia's final 26 after switching from Australia — placed on standby
Enrique Riquelme, lobbying to become Real Madrid's next president, called it "a somewhat sad day" for the club. "Let's hope it never happens again," he said. Right now, based on what De la Fuente selected, there's no obvious reason it won't.
