Why Alvaro Morata is missing the 2026 World Cup for Spain

Spain enters the 2026 World Cup as one of the favorites to conquer the tournament and secure the second world title in their history, looking to recapture the glory of their legendary 2010 run in South Africa.

To lead this grand challenge, manager Luis de la Fuente has named a highly competitive 26-man roster, introducing several stark changes to the group that triumphed at UEFA Euro 2024.

One of the biggest omission from the final list is striker Álvaro Morata. The national team captain was completely left out of the World Cup selection due to a tactical decision by De la Fuente, who opted to overhaul his frontline by calling up Mikel Oyarzabal, Ferran Torres, and Borja Iglesias to handle central striking duties.

Despite the high-profile snub for the tournament in North America, the manager insists that the international door remains firmly open for the seasoned frontman. “No one has the door closed here, and we all know how football is,” Luis de la Fuente remarked during a press conference following the squad announcement. “We hope that in the future, well, we will meet again“.

A low-output season in Italy

Morata has long been revered for his elite international goalscoring pedigree. With 37 goals in 87 caps, the 33-year-old comfortably sits as the fourth-highest goalscorer in the history of the Spanish national team, trailing the iconic Fernando Torres by a single goal.

However, his historic reputation was overridden by a disastrous domestic campaign that saw the striker experience an unprecedented drought. Spending the club season on loan at Italian side Como 1907 under Cesc Fàbregas, Morata struggled mightily to find form or consistency.

Throughout 30 matches for Como across all competitions, the Spaniard managed to bundle the ball into the back of the net just one single time—a solitary strike coming during a 3-1 victory over Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia. In Serie A play, he went completely scoreless across 26 appearances, primarily being relegated to brief cameos off the bench and totaling just over 1,000 minutes of action.

Ultimately, this prolonged drop in form and lack of regular playing time proved to be the decisive factors for Luis de la Fuente. The manager chose to draw a line in the sand, omitting the forward from even his preliminary 55-man provisional pool in order to jumpstart an attacking youth movement for the World Cup campaign.