Four Real Madrid Players in Danger of Missing World Cup Over Form Concerns

With just four games left to play in La Liga this season, Real Madrid’s season is all but over.

Out of the Champions League at the quarterfinals stage and set to concede the title race to Barcelona, it has been a very poor campaign indeed for Los Blancos.

Understandably, attention for many has already turned to this summer’s World Cup, which begins on June 11.

The tournament, played across the United States, Canada and Mexico, provides an opportunity for Madrid’s stars to salvage something from a cursed season.

National team squads will be announced towards the end of the club season and, while several of Real Madrid’s key figures will be there representing their nations come what may, there are others whose spots on their team’s planes to North America are far from guaranteed.

Which Real Madrid Players Won’t Go to the World Cup?

Of Madrid’s 24-man first-team roster, only Andriy Lunin plays for a national team (Ukraine) that has not qualified for this summer’s tournament.

Another three will miss the tournament through injury—Ferland Mendy (France), Éder Militão and Rodrygo (Brazil).

From the remaining players, the likes of Raúl Asencio, Álvaro Carreras, and Gonzalo García have never been capped at senior international level for Spain and are highly unlikely to be involved this summer. The same goes for Dani Ceballos, whose last cap came in 2023, and the as-yet uncapped at senior level Gonzalo García.

Real Madrid could expect to have as many as 15 representatives at this summer’s tournament, but the exact figure will hinge on whether a key group do enough to convince their national team managers of their value.

Here are four players fighting to be at the World Cup this summer.

Dani Carvajal (Spain)

This season has not gone the way it was supposed to for one of the club’s most decorated players.

Carvajal was named club captain last summer as he entered the final year of his contract, hoping for one glorious last dance in La Liga and the Champions League.

Instead, he has been relegated to a bit-parter in one of the most frustrating seasons in recent memory.

Carvajal, 34, was left out of Spain’s March internationals, with Luis de le Fuente instead opting for Marcos Llorente and Pedro Porro as his right-back options.

Adding to an already precarious situation, Carvajal has picked up a foot injury in training, potentially further limiting his game time for the remainder of the season.

Despite this, De la Fuente has said of the veteran full back: “Dani is a very important figure in our dressing room. He’s a real asset, in every sense of the word.”

Trent Alexander-Arnold (England)

If Carvajal still has the backing of his national team manager despite form and fitness, Alexander-Arnold is a different story. The former Liverpool star has never been favored by England boss Thomas Tuchel.

After a shaky start to life in Madrid, Alexander-Arnold has begun to impress with his passing range and creative influence—though questions remain over his defensive solidity.

Still, Alexander-Arnold was omitted from Tuchel’s extended 35-man roster for the March internationals against Uruguay and Japan, suggesting he is unlikely to be included in the final team.

The manager said of his decision: “Everyone is still in the mix. But at the moment, some other guys are just ahead of him.”

Tuchel was present for Madrid’s 4–3 Champions League quarterfinal second leg defeat to Bayern Munich last month, but it remains to be seen whether that display will have moved the needle.

Eduardo Camavinga (France)

It has been a tough season for Camavinga. The French midfielder has failed to nail down a starting berth this season under Xabi Alonso or Arbeloa and has fallen down the pecking order even behind 18-year-old Thiago Pitarch.

Arbeloa publicly called out the former Rennes star’s application during April’s defeat to Mallorca, but defended him after his controversial, match-turning red card in the Champions League exit to Bayern.

All signs seem to point to a summer sale, with a number of Premier League clubs linked.

According to reports in France, Camavinga’s season from hell could see him fall out of contention for Didier Deschamps’s roster, with the midfielder currently ranked sixth behind the likes of N’Golo Kanté, Manu Koné, Adrien Rabiot, Aurélien Tchouaméni and Warren Zaïre-Emery.

Camavinga was included in the team for France’s March internationals but didn’t get on the pitch. The 23-year-old has 29 caps to date.

Franco Mastantuono (Argentina)

The Argentine teenager arrived in the Spanish capital with huge potential last summer and initially impressed under Alonso.

Already a senior international by the time he joined Madrid, Mastantuono is actually the youngest debutant in Argentina history after featuring in a World Cup qualifier against Chile aged 17 years and 296 days.

However, progress has stalled for the young attacker, who has become something of a forgotten man under Arbeloa.

Mastantuono, who has one goal all season, was castigated by his manager after getting sent off for shouting at the referee in the defeat to Getafe, while he has had to make do with fleeting cameos in recent months.

While he did get 45 minutes on the pitch for Argentina against Mauritania during the last round of internationals, there is a growing feeling that his chances of making Lionel Scaloni’s final roster are diminishing fast.

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