Dean Huijsen Recalled to Spain Squad

Dean Huijsen is back in Spain's squad for the September international break, a recall Luis de la Fuente confirmed alongside the return of Fermin Lopez. Marc Cucurella keeps his place too, having lost none of his standing as the first choice at left-back under the coach.

The Real Madrid centre-back had missed out on the World Cup squad entirely. His inclusion now reflects the level he has shown at club level since the start of the 2025-26 season, form that has been enough to put him back alongside Pau Cubarsi among Spain's senior options at the back.

Cucurella's case needed no such shift in fortune. He remains undisputed on the left flank for De la Fuente even though, by all accounts, he has yet to make much of an impact at Chelsea since his move there.

De la Fuente set out what he expects from Huijsen going forward.

Spain will play four matches in the window: England, Croatia twice and the Czech Republic. They sit top of their World Cup qualifying group on seven points from three matches.

A separate late call went to Inter goalkeeper Pepo Martinez, summoned after Barcelona's Joan Garcia suffered a muscle injury in his last Liga outing. De la Fuente explained the decision by pointing to Martinez's pedigree under him at Under-21 level.

"Pepo has been with me at the Under-21 national team – the world champion coach explained – Last year he won the league and the Cup, we have great confidence in him. He is an absolutely reliable solution."

The call comes at an awkward moment for Martinez, who has made errors in each of his last two league games for Inter, gifting goals to Real Madrid and Udinese. His club coach, Cristian Chivu, has publicly backed him regardless.

"He will defend him to the death. It has never been a problem and it won't be in the future either."

Spain named the squad in Ceuta, a break from the World Cup squad that included Marcos Llorente, who announced his retirement from the national team earlier this month after 27 caps.