Lamine Yamal will wear Spain’s number 10 shirt against England after Luis de la Fuente submitted his final 23-man squad for the Nations League fixture to UEFA.
The match will decide the group winners and determine which team finishes second and must play the second leg of the quarter-final away from home.
De la Fuente was required to leave out only four players from the 28-man training camp at Las Rozas. Alejandro Grimaldo departed on Saturday evening after being affected by a viral infection which had spread among several members of the Spain squad during the week.
Alvaro Valles, Jakob Ramon, De Frutos and Roberto Fernandez will therefore watch the game from the stands at Riyadh Air Metropolitano.
The group includes the fourth-choice goalkeeper, who was called up because of the difficulties Raya experienced in joining the camp at the start; Jakob Ramon, one of the players hoping to make his senior international debut; and Como centre-back De Frutos. The forwards De Frutos and Roberto Fernandez both featured during the match against Prague.
The main selection decision, however, concerned the shirt numbers. With Mikel Oyarzabal and Yamal returning, attention focused on whether the Barcelona forward would give up the number 19 he usually wears for Spain and take the number 10, left vacant by the injured Dani Olmo.
Yamal has been given the shirt for the meeting with England, taking on one of football’s most recognisable numbers. It has previously been worn by players including Pele, Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, Michel Platini, Luka Modric, Zinedine Zidane and Zico.
This is not the first time Yamal has worn number 10 for Spain. He was assigned it in October 2024, when the national side had several absentees, including Olmo.
He wore it in the 1-0 win over Denmark in Murcia, with Martin Zubimendi scoring the only goal. Three days later, Yamal missed the 3-0 victory over Serbia in Cordoba because of a muscular problem, and Rodrigo Riquelme took the number instead.
Spain’s number 10
The shirt has a strong association with Cesc Fabregas, who wore it during Spain’s first golden era between 2008 and 2012.
Thiago Alcantara was the first player to take the number after Fabregas, retaining it during his time under Luis Enrique. Since Fabregas left the national team after Julen Lopetegui became manager in September 2016, a succession of players have worn it before it became Dani Olmo’s regular number.
The list includes Marco Asensio at the 2022 World Cup, Sergio Canales, Carlos Soler, Sergi Roberto, Pedri and Dani Ceballos, the first player to wear it under De la Fuente.
Yeremy Pino also took the shirt after receiving a late call-up in September 2023, while Bryan Zaragoza was given it after being summoned to replace an injured player. Nico Williams, Dani Olmo, Pepelu, Yamal, Riquelme, Jesus Rodriguez and Victor Munoz have also worn the number.
