{"id":52738,"date":"2026-05-25T16:34:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T11:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/?p=52738"},"modified":"2026-05-25T16:34:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T11:04:26","slug":"i-dont-look-at-clubs-only-at-players-spain-coach-luis-de-la-fuente-breaks-silence-on-the-absence-of-real-madrid-players-in-his-squad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/football\/fifa-world-cup\/i-dont-look-at-clubs-only-at-players-spain-coach-luis-de-la-fuente-breaks-silence-on-the-absence-of-real-madrid-players-in-his-squad\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI Don\u2019t Look at Clubs, Only at Players\u201d: Spain Coach Luis de la Fuente breaks silence on the absence of Real Madrid players in his squad"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a refreshingly honest and professional statement, Spain national team coach Luis de la Fuente<\/strong> addressed the noticeable absence of Real Madrid players in his 2026 World Cup squad.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI don\u2019t look at any player\u2019s club: I only look at whether they have the possibility of playing with us. I don\u2019t look at whether they come from one team or another, I don\u2019t have that localist mentality that a fan might have.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

De la Fuente made it clear that his selection is based purely on form, fitness, and how well players fit into the team\u2019s system<\/strong> \u2014 not on club colors or fan pressure. This calm, merit-based approach has been a hallmark of his coaching style.<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s Official 2026 World Cup Squad<\/h3>\n

Here\u2019s the complete squad Luis de la Fuente has selected:<\/p>\n

Goalkeepers (Porteros)<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Unai Sim\u00f3n (Athletic Club)<\/li>\n
  • David Raya (Arsenal)<\/li>\n
  • Joan Garc\u00eda (Espanyol\/Barcelona)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Defenders (Defensas)<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    • Marc Cucurella<\/li>\n
    • Alejandro Grimaldo<\/li>\n
    • Pau Cubars\u00ed<\/li>\n
    • Aymeric Laporte<\/li>\n
    • Pubill<\/li>\n
    • Eric Garc\u00eda<\/li>\n
    • Marcos Llorente<\/li>\n
    • Pedro Porro<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Midfielders (Centrocampistas)<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      • Pedri<\/li>\n
      • Fabi\u00e1n Ruiz<\/li>\n
      • Mart\u00edn Zubimendi<\/li>\n
      • Gavi<\/li>\n
      • Rodri<\/li>\n
      • \u00c1lex Baena<\/li>\n
      • Mikel Merino<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Forwards (Delanteros)<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \n
        • Mikel Oyarzabal<\/li>\n
        • Dani Olmo<\/li>\n
        • Nico Williams<\/li>\n
        • Yeremy Pino<\/li>\n
        • Ferran Torres<\/li>\n
        • Borja Iglesias<\/li>\n
        • V\u00edctor Mu\u00f1oz<\/li>\n
        • Lamine Yamal<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          A Young, Exciting Squad<\/h3>\n

          The squad blends experienced internationals like Rodri, Laporte, and Dani Olmo<\/strong> with exciting young talents such as Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Gavi, Pau Cubars\u00ed<\/strong>, and Nico Williams<\/strong>. It\u2019s a team full of technical quality, energy, and huge potential.<\/p>\n

          Fans from all clubs will surely be hoping this group can bring joy to Spain this summer. What matters most is the red jersey<\/strong> \u2014 and De la Fuente seems determined to pick the players who can make Spain shine on the biggest stage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          In a refreshingly honest and professional statement, Spain national team coach Luis de la Fuente addressed the noticeable absence of\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":52741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4658],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fifa-world-cup"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52738"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52742,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52738\/revisions\/52742"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}