On Friday, Spain's national coach Luis de la Fuente made the announcement of the squad that will travel to Bulgaria and Turkey for the next two World Cup qualifiers games in September. And the big news was the return to the team of the two captains, Rodri from Manchester City and Dani Carvajal from Real Madrid, after their injuries.
Both players suffered ACL injuries early in the last seasons and were side-lined for months. They returned at the end of last season, played some minutes at Club World Cup, and are now starting to gain traction at their clubs, although they have yet to play a full 90 minute game. They will have the option to play against much lower ranked rivals (Rodri has only played 15 minutes in the Premier League this year).
"The most important news is that they're back with us. With passion and contributing a lot. They're our captains and the best in the world in their positions", said de la Fuente. The manager, Euro champion last year, was also asked about not calling Joan García, Barça's new goalkeeper. "I don't feel pressure from him or anyone else. We have the best sporting director in the world, and he knows all the goalkeepers like no one else. He could have been there, but not because he played for Barça. We don't choose based on clubs; they're Spanish national team players."
Spain's squad for September 2025
Goalkeepers
Unai Simón, Raya, Remiro
Defenders
Carvajal, Porro, Le Normand, Huijsen, Vivian, Cubarsí, Cucurella, Grimaldo
Midfielders
Rodrigo, Zubimendi, Fabián, Pedri, Merino, Gavi, Fermín
Forwards
Morata, Oyarzabal, Ferran, Olmo, Nico Williams, Lamine, Yeremy, Jesús Rodríguez