In the Spain squad, there were eight players from La Liga champions Barcelona.

Injured forwards Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams were included Monday in Spain's World Cup squad but, for the first time, La Roja won't be traveling with any Real Madrid players

The 36-year-old defender, who won two Premier League titles and a Champions League with Chelsea, was capped 44 times by Spain.

With the start of the 2026 World Cup in North America now barely three weeks away, AFP Sport runs the rule over the leading contenders at the first-ever 48-team finals.

Here's a look at five of the contenders to become the game's next superstar at this year's finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The 2026 World Cup will be the first to feature 48 teams, with the expansion of the field offering opportunities to several debutants.

Kylian Mbappe is sidelined with a hamstring injury. Lamine Yamal is out for the rest of the season and so is Brazil star Estevao

Lamine Yamal will miss the remaining six La Liga games for the leaders as he follows a "conservative treatment" process to heal a muscle injury in his left leg that he picked up on Wednesday while converting a penalty in a 1-0 win over Celta Vigo.

Spain's football federation and coach Luis de la Fuente condemned anti-Muslim chants that marred the 0-0 draw with Egypt in Barcelona on Tuesday in a pre-World Cup friendly.

The fixture was marred by chants from the Spanish crowd directed at Egypt's players with the public announcement system at the RCDE Stadium appealing to fans to refrain from making offensive comments.

Spain released Arsenal midfielder Martin Zubimendi from their squad on Sunday because of knee discomfort.

FSE accused FIFA of a "monumental betrayal" in December when tickets were put on general sale ranging from $140 for the cheapest group games to $8,680 for the final.

UEFA said Sunday that the game between Argentina and Spain known as Finalissima that was supposed to be held in Qatar has been cancelled after the widening Middle East war.

Spain and England will face each other in the next edition of the UEFA Nations League following Thursday's draw, which also threw up a clash between France and Italy while Germany and the Netherlands will renew their rivalry.

Former Spain coach Robert Moreno denied using artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT to prepare for games during his time in charge of Russian club Sochi on Monday.

At least 43 people were killed in southern Spain last Sunday when a high-speed train jumped the track and caused a second train passing the other way to derail.

Barcelona vs Real Madrid, Spanish Super Cup 2026 Final Highlights: Raphinha slammed two goals to fire Barcelona to their second-straight Supercopa de Espana title, over Real Madrid in Jeddah.

The final draw of the FIFA World Cup 2026 will take place on Friday at Washington, DC, the capital of co-hosts USA.