Spain's World Cup title in the United States, Canada and Mexico was built once again on Barcelona and Catalan talent, a pattern that has defined the national team for 18 years and produced two World Cup titles and three European Championships. Coach Luis de la Fuente called up nine players linked to Catalonia and not a single one from Real Madrid, a decision that set off a public exchange between former Spain captains Iker Casillas and Gerard Pique.
Casillas, the former Real Madrid goalkeeper, shouted "Viva Espana" as the two discussed the squad list. Pique, the former Barcelona defender, replied that Casillas was the one who had said it, not him. Both said they were stunned that de la Fuente had not selected a single Real Madrid player, though Pique said he was fully behind the team regardless. Casillas, laughing, asked ironically whether Pique would really be cheering for Spain.
Catalonia's Own National Team
Pique, who played 102 times for Spain, is a Catalan separatist who wants the region, which lost its independence in 1714 during the War of the Spanish Succession, to become a sovereign state again. Alongside Xavi Hernandez, Carles Puyol, Sergio Busquets, Cesc Fabregas and Joan Capdevila, he was a key player in Vicente del Bosque's squad that won the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, ending Spain's long run of tournament disappointment.
All of them have also represented Catalonia's own team, which is not recognised by FIFA or UEFA and so cannot enter official competitions. It was founded in 1902, 18 years before the Spanish federation team, and has fielded outsiders embraced by the region, including Dutch players Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens, Hungarian Ladislao Kubala and Argentine Alfredo Di Stefano, who later became a symbol of Real Madrid.
Players Who Refused to Play for Spain
The first player to refuse Spain for ideological and political reasons was not a Catalan but a Basque, Inaxio Kortabarria, then captain of Real Sociedad. Coach Ladislao Kubala called him up for a 1976 match against West Germany. Kortabarria played four times for Spain before announcing the following year that he would not play again. No other Basque player has refused since, though Mikel Aranburu, capped at youth level, later said he carries the Basque Country team in his heart and that the Spain team is not for him.
The second refusal came from Galician defender Nacho Fernandez of Compostela, wanted by coach Javier Clemente for Euro 96 in England. Fernandez said he felt no enthusiasm about playing for Spain, and Clemente accepted his decision. Coach Luis Aragones later showed the same understanding toward Catalan defender Oleguer Presas, who was called up in 2005, travelled to the training camp, then told Aragones honestly that the Spain team was not for people like him who want an independent Catalonia.
Pep Guardiola and Pique took the opposite path despite sharing Oleguer's politics. Asked whether, as a separatist, he should reject Spain call-ups, Pique responded only by asking why he shouldn't play.
A Multicultural Winning Goal
Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in the World Cup final. In the stadium's VIP box in New York sat Catalans including Puyol and Xavi, who embraced when Barcelona forward Ferran Torres scored the winning goal in the 106th minute. Also celebrating were Casillas, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Ramos, Fernando Llorente, Jesus Navas and David Villa, champions from 16 years earlier.
The winning move was itself a mix of backgrounds. Lamine Yamal, born in Catalonia to a Moroccan father and a mother from Equatorial Guinea, received the ball on the right and played it back to Pedro Porro, a Tottenham Hotspur defender from Extremadura. Porro crossed for Nico Williams, born in Pamplona, capital of Navarre, but a product of Basque club Athletic Bilbao, whose Ghanaian parents crossed the Sahara to reach Melilla, Spain's autonomous city on Morocco's eastern coast. Williams headed the ball to Ferran Torres, a forward from Valencia province.
Ferran and Iniesta, the scorers of Spain's winning goals in two different World Cup finals, are both Barcelona players but neither is Catalan. Iniesta was born in Albacete province and joined Barcelona's La Masia academy at 12. He learned Catalan and played for Catalonia's team in May 2004 against five-time champions Brazil, a match Catalonia lost 5-2 at Camp Nou.
Franco Era and Catalan Separatism
Catalonia's team today stands as a symbol of the region's distinct identity. Catalan separatism was suppressed under General Francisco Franco's dictatorship, and during the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939 Catalans backed the Republican side. Early in the war, Franco's forces executed Josep Sunyol, then president of FC Barcelona and also a politician and deputy. Barcelona became a symbol of survival under the dictatorship, the origin of its motto "More than a club," usually credited to president Narcis de Carreras, though Alfredo Relano, a journalist at Madrid newspaper As, has said it was actually coined by a marketing employee.
The first Catalan separatist is generally considered to be Josep Narcís Roca i Farreras, who wrote the 1886 article "Neither Spaniards Nor French." The first organisations campaigning for the region's independence appeared in Catalonia in 1918. The most recent independence bid came nine years ago, when the Spanish government arrested and prosecuted members of the Catalan parliament and its speaker, Carles Puigdemont, fled to Brussels.
Guardiola, then managing Manchester City, spoke out publicly for the release of Catalan political prisoners, and Pique has repeatedly said Catalans should be allowed to decide for themselves whether to remain part of Spain or become independent. Most Catalan players, past and present, avoid commenting publicly on the issue, aware of how divisive it remains.
From Perennial Losers to Golden Era
Aside from the three refusals, no other player has turned down Spain. The country always had strong players and one of Europe's best leagues, but until 2008 the national team was regarded as a perpetual underachiever, unable to get past the World Cup quarterfinals.
It was Atletico Madrid-linked coach Luis Aragones who chose to build the squad around Barcelona players and their possession-based style, known as tiki-taka. The golden era that followed began at Euro 2008 and continues today.
De la Fuente took nine Catalonia-connected players to this World Cup: Pau Cubarsi, Eric Garcia, Joan Garcia, Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo, all of Barcelona, David Raya of Arsenal, Marc Pubill of Atletico Madrid, Marc Cucurella, who moved from Chelsea to Real Madrid during the tournament, and Victor Munoz of Liverpool.
The approach used by Aragones, by del Bosque during Spain's 2010 World Cup and 2012 European Championship wins, and now by de la Fuente during the 2024 European Championship and this World Cup, rests on keeping possession, constant movement and short passing. It has not always worked, including at the Russia and Qatar World Cups, where Spain was eliminated on penalties in the round of 16.
Aragones is also credited with coining the nickname "La Roja." He said he wanted the Spain team to have its own identity, the way Brazil is known as the Canarinha and Argentina as the Albiceleste, and wanted Spain to be called La Roja, the Red. The Madrid-born coach approached selection without prejudice, picking the best available players, and Spanish football benefited as a result.
