Aymeric Laporte anchors Spain’s 26-man roster with lone foreign-born player

Spain’s 2026 FIFA World Cup roster has one player born outside the country, and aymeric laporte is the only one. The 26-man squad selected by Luis de la Fuente includes the France-born defender as its lone foreign-born presence.

Laporte and Spain’s roster split

Laporte was born in Agen, France, on May 27, 1994, and obtained Spanish citizenship in 2021. He had already made his Spain debut in a friendly against Portugal before UEFA Euro 2020 and was included in Luis Enrique’s squad for that tournament.

His route to Spain ran through FIFA’s eligibility rules. The governing body allowed the switch days after Spain granted him citizenship in May 2021 because he had never played an official senior match for France.

France youth path to Spain

Before that switch, Laporte had represented France at the U17, U18, U19 and U21 levels and captained some French youth teams. He also received senior call-ups in 2016 and 2019 without appearing in an official senior match for France.

That history makes his place on Spain’s 26-player roster stand out even more. Spain entered a FIFA World Cup without a single Real Madrid player on its final roster for the first time ever, while Barcelona has eight representatives on the squad.

De la Fuente’s 26-player list

De la Fuente’s group blends established names and emerging players, but Laporte is the only outlier by birthplace. For readers tracking Spain’s tournament makeup, the key detail is simple: the squad’s foreign-born count is one, and Laporte is it.