Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente has named his squad for the 2026 World Cup, and the big news is the lack of Real Madrid players included. Not one player from the Bernabeu will be heading to the tournament with La Roja, and this is the first time in history that this has happened.
Dean Huijsen was the most likely candidate to be included, and given that he has been a regular for Spain over the last 12 months, it was somewhat of a surprise that he missed out in favour of Marc Pubill and Eric Garcia. However, the latter pair had fantastic seasons with Atletico Madrid and Barcelona respectively, so they have more than earned their place on the plane to North America.
Notably, there will actually be one Real Madrid player that does end up travelling to North America with Spain – or at least, that is the plan. As per Marca, striker Gonzalo Garcia has been included in the “B list” that will be involved with the group for the two friendlies prior to the tournament starting in mid-June, with one of those being against Peru in Mexico.
As well as Gonzalo, de la Fuente has named Marc Bernal (Barcelona), Javi Rodríguez (Celta Vigo), Jesús Rodríguez (Como), Leo Román (Mallorca), Sergio Gómez, Jon Martín, Benat Turrientes (Real Sociedad) and Javi Guerra (Valencia) in this list. The nine of them will train with the senior squad over the coming years, and if there were to be an injury drop-out, they would be well-placed to make the step up.
Even if he does not end up being involved at the World Cup, which is very likely to be the case, it is a big achievement for Gonzalo to be included in the support squad that de la Fuente has named. He’d barely been heard of 12 months ago, but now, he’s an established player for Real Madrid and on the radar of the Spanish national team.
It could turn out to be a big summer for Gonzalo, given that he could be one of the players to leave Real Madrid. Club bosses have been impressed with him over the last 12 months, but they do not want to block his development if it is decided that he would only play a bit-part role next season.
