Nine Catalans and no Madridistas on Spain's list for the World Cup

BarcelonaThe Spanish absolute men's coach, Luis de la Fuente, gave this Monday at noon the list of called-up players for Spain for the next football World Cup. The coach of la roja will concentrate in the coming weeks and during the World Cup event a group of players with a notable presence of Catalan players (nine) and from Barça, which is by far the club with the most representation (eight players) in a call-up that for the first time in history has no Real Madrid player. From Atlètic de Madrid, Arsenal and Athletic Club there are three players per team. The rest of the clubs that contribute talent (Chelsea, Manchester City, Osasuna, Celta de Vigo, Reial Societat, PSG, Tottenham, Bayer Leverkusen and Crystal Palace) contribute with a single footballer each.

The call-up has been made official through a video featuring Felipe VI, De la Fuente himself, and several anonymous citizens who have each, one by one, said the name of all the players called up for the World Cup. "This is the list of an entire country," proclaimed the monarch in the audiovisual piece distributed by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). Despite this maxim, several fans and commentators from Real Madrid have already shown their indignation at the absence of white club footballers in the call-up. Dani Carvajal, after a season marked by injuries and friction with Álvaro Arbeloa, has been left out, as have Dean Huijsen and Álvaro Carreras, two selectable players bought at a premium last summer by Florentino Pérez who have completed a more than discreet first year at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Goalkeepers (3): Unai Simón (Athletic Club), David Raya (Arsenal) and Joan Garcia (Barça).

Defenders (7): Pedro Porro (Tottenham), Eric Garcia (Barça), Pau Cubarsí (Barça), Aymeric Laporte (Athletic Club), Marc Pubill (Atlético de Madrid), Marc Cucurella (Chelsea) and Alejandro Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen).

Midfielders (9): Rodri Hernández (Manchester City), Martín Zubimendi (Arsenal), Marcos Llorente (Atlético de Madrid), Pedri González (Barça), Pablo Gavi (Barça), Dani Olmo (Barça), Álex Baena (Atlético de Madrid), Mikel Merino (Arsenal) and Fabián Ruiz (PSG).

Forwards (7):Lamine Yamal Nasraoui (Barça), Nico Williams (Athletic Club), Borja Iglesias (Celta de Vigo), Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Víctor Muñoz (Osasuna), Yéremy Pino (Crystal Palace) and Ferran Torres (Barça).

In addition to the 26 chosen, among whom is the injured Fermín López, De la Fuente has called up nine "support" players who will participate in the first part of the training camp: Marc Bernal (Barça), Javi Rodríguez (Celta de Vigo), Jesús Rodríguez (Como), Leo Román (Mallorca), Gonzalo García (Real Madrid), Jon Martín, Sergio Gómez, Beñat Turrientes (Real Sociedad) and Javi Guerra (Valencia). When the team flies to the American continent, these players will take their planned holidays.

Award for Joan, Eric and Gavi

Regarding Barça, the coach's choice rewards the great season that Joan Garcia and Eric Garcia have had. The goalkeeper, a native of Sallent and winner of the Zamora Trophy in his first season at Camp Nou, is on the World Cup list with only one appearance for the senior national team, while the defender from Martorell returns to a call-up after almost four years. The last time he was an international was under Luis Enrique in a qualifying match for the Qatar World Cup (2022), a tournament in which he did not play any minutes despite being called up by the Asturian. But the most unbridled joy was experienced by Gavi, who followed De la Fuente's announcement from the Joan Gamper Sports City. The Andalusian midfielder cried with emotion when he learned he was a World Cup player. It will be his first major tournament with La Roja after missing the 2024 European Championship due to a knee injury and not playing much of this season because of another tear in the same joint.

Regarding the origin of the 26 members of Spain's list, a clear majority of Catalan talent. Nine players (35% of the total) were born in Catalonia. Andalusia and the Basque Country contribute three players each. Madrid, Valencia, Navarre, and the Canary Islands contribute two each, and Galicia and Extremadura, one. There is only one player born outside the State: Le Normand, who plays for Spain despite being a native of Brittany.