A World Cup head-to-head

BarcelonaJoan Garcia has started 2026 as one of Barça's main protagonists. First, because of his return to the RCDE Stadium, which ended with a decisive performance for his team's victory. And now he's one of the most prominent names in the Spanish Super Cup semifinal between Barça and Athletic Club this Wednesday. Under the watchful eye of Spanish national team coach Luis de la Fuente, Joan and Unai Simón will defend their respective goals amidst the buzz about whether the goalkeeper from Sallent, who has never been called up to the national team, deserves, at the very least, a place in this summer's World Cup squad.

"I'm not setting the World Cup as a goal. My goal is to keep improving in every match with Barça. Every player likes to be called up to the national team. If it happens, I'll be very proud," Joan stated in the lead-up to the semifinal. Back in Barcelona, ​​when he played for Espanyol and was instrumental in saving the club from relegation last season, the speculation about whether the Catalan player should be included in the Spanish squad had already begun. After signing for Barça and putting in some outstanding performances, this buzz has intensified. While in Catalonia many take it for granted that Joan is the best goalkeeper in the competition, and his absence from the Spanish national team is a recurring question in Luis de la Fuente's press conferences, Bilbao and Madrid see it differently.

"Journalistic debate is one thing, and sports debate is another," observes Antón Meana, a Madrid-based journalist with Cadena SER, in an interview with ARA. "I would make a clear distinction between journalistic debate, which doesn't exist in Madrid, possibly due to this constant Madrid-Barcelona rivalry, but it's a debate that simply doesn't exist in Madrid. It's as if the Madrid press, which follows the Spanish national team, has completely accepted that the team's goalkeeper is their captain, Unai Simón, and therefore there's no debate because there isn't one. And what I perceive from the Spanish press is that Joan Garcia has to be the starting goalkeeper for the national team. "Right now, it's a journalistic debate, not a sports debate. I mean, Luis de la Fuente can't call up Joan Garcia tomorrow, or next week, or next month, because there's no match until the end of March. He couldn't call him up in October or November [Joan was injured]; Therefore, it's a journalistic debate, but not a game of foosball."

For his part, Alberto Negro, from Radio Euskadi, attributes the debate to the "media machine that drives both Barça and Real Madrid," and states that "it's very, very strident." "It seems that players who play for teams other than these often practically need to go off the rails or perform at extremely high levels to gain recognition, whether in Catalonia or, in this case, in Madrid," he adds. Negro illustrates this opinion: "A few seasons ago, when I had barely played four or five games in goal for Real Madrid, the media of the club..." meringue Those close to him spoke of the possibility of Kepa Arrizabalaga taking over as the starting goalkeeper for the Spanish national team, even though he had barely played a few games for Real Madrid and, moreover, he subsequently failed to maintain his starting position against the Ukrainian Lunin."

Along the same lines, the Radio Euskadi journalist asks for perspective: "It's true that Joan is performing at a very high level and is coming off a great performance against Espanyol, but just two weeks ago Athletic hosted PSG and Unai Simón had a fantastic game, and we already know the attacking prowess of Luis Enrique's chosen team. Furthermore, Unai Eni directly praised Unai Simón and said he was the best goalkeeper in the competition."

Both Negro and Meana agree that if Joan Garcia continues performing at this level, he has more than enough ability to play in the World Cup. "As do Unai Simón and David Raya, who is having a spectacular season playing for Arsenal." Meana adds that "Unai Simón will be the starting goalkeeper for the Spanish national team at the World Cup, and that won't change until he starts to falter with the Spanish national team, something that hasn't happened yet."

The SER journalist also believes Joan will go to the World Cup: "For De la Fuente, calling up Joan isn't a problem at all; on the contrary, he has already called him up several times in Spain's various youth categories, and therefore, for the Federation, there's no debate." Luis de la Fuente's next squad announcement will come at the end of March. For now, Joan Garcia is clear: "To improve day by day with Barça."