Twenty-year-old Barcelona forward Ansu Fati was included on Friday in Spain’s squad for the World Cup.

Fati has not played for Spain since making his fourth appearance as a teenager in October 2020 shortly after breaking the record for Spain’s youngest scorer. His spectacular start for Spain and Barcelona was cut short by leg injuries.

Besides Fati, there were no other surprises when Spain coach Luis Enrique announced his 26-man squad. The former midfielder, who played in three World Cups, will rely on a young team in Qatar, including Barcelona midfielders Pedri Gonzalez (19) and Gavi (18).

“We are going to war in Qatar,” Enrique said. Enrique guided a similar Spain squad to the semi-finals of last year’s European Championship. Spain’s players will travel on Monday to Jordan, where they will play a friendly against that country’s national team on November 17. They will then fly to Doha, where the team will have its base.

Dybala makes cut

Injured forward Paulo Dybala made the cut as Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni named his 26-man squad led by Lionel Messi.

Dybala has not played for his club AS Roma since early October but has been named in the squad as Argentina hope he regains his fitness before their World Cup campaign begins on November 22 against Group C opponents Saudi Arabia.

Messi, 35, will be playing in his fifth World Cup and will be accompanied by fellow veterans Angel Di Maria and Nicolas Otamendi along with fresh faces who helped Argentina win the Copa America title last year.

“They are proud to be called up and wear this jersey, let’s hope that you as fans are too. All together,” coach Scaloni said in an Instagram video. Argentina also play Mexico and Poland in Group C.

Mane fitness

Sadio Mane was included in Senegal’s, just three days after a lower right leg injury put the star player’s participation in doubt. Senegal coach Aliou Cisse named the Bayern Munich forward in his 26-man squad to the relief of a nation that had been fretting over whether Mane would be able to play in Qatar. Bayern had said Mane will miss this weekend’s game against Schalke in the Bundesliga.

Maddison rewarded

James Maddison was a surprising inclusion for England when coach Gareth Southgate named his 26-man squad on Thursday.

The Leicester playmaker has made only one appearance for his country, coming on as a substitute in a European Championship qualifier against Montenegro in 2019. But he has been rewarded for his good form for Leicester this season, scoring six goals and providing four assists.

Southgate also included Kyle Walker, despite the Manchester City defender undergoing an operation on his groin last month, while clubmate Kalvin Phillips has also been picked following shoulder surgery in September.

Fifa forbids messages on shirts

London: The Danish Football Association (DBU) said on Thursday that Fifa had rejected Denmark’s request to train at the World Cup in shirts with the words “human rights for all” on them.

The DBU said in 2021 that their two training kit sponsors would make way for messages critical of Qatar.

The country has come under intense pressure over its treatment of foreign workers and restrictive social laws.

“We have today (Friday) got a message from Fifa that the training shirts our players were to train in, where it would say ‘human rights for all’ at the stomach (of the shirt), have been rejected due to technical reasons, which is regrettable,” DBU chief executive Jakob Jensen told Ritzau news agency.

Fifa declined to comment. Its rules stipulate that any team equipment must not have any political, religious or personal slogans or images.

Reuters