3 Takeaways From Spain, England, Portugal Nations League Roster Drops

For the first time in a long time, we won’t be seeing Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo patrolling the pitch for their respective countries. 

With both icons now retired from international duty, we close out the calendar year that saw Spain lift the 2026 World Cup with a final November window that will feature some top-bill matches, especially in Europe. 

Several heavyweight squads — Spain, England, and Portugal – dropped their rosters for the final matches of the UEFA Nations League group stage. That includes a contest between Spain and England on Nov. 15 in Madrid that will now carry some emotional weight.

Here are my takeaways from some of the more notable roster decisions:

Two recent tragedies in Spain – one off the pitch and one on it – reminded us that there are things in life much bigger than football. Against that backdrop, the defending World Cup champions will use the upcoming matches against Czechia and England to help their nation heal.

Last Wednesday, a train collision in Urda killed 69 people (and injured 200) on a Madrid-Sevilla high-speed line, making it one of the worst transportation tragedies in European history and the second one in Spain this year. Days later, Jesús de Miguel Alameda, the 30-year-old striker from CD Tenerife, the second-division club from the Canary Islands, died after a collision with Andorra’s goalkeeper Jesús Owono in the middle of a match.

As Spains squad was announced on Friday, manager Luis De La Fuente and the country’s federation honored the victims of both tragedies. 

“Football must unite us today more than ever. We share the grief of the families of the victims from Urda, and we mourn the irreparable loss of Jesús de Miguel,” he said before announcing his 27-man list. 

Jesús de Miguel’s funeral was held on Thursday at his familys village as the insurmountable pain was felt across the country, with Spanish and European clubs paying tributes to him throughout the week. 

De la Fuente, who has created a family-based environment on and off the pitch for Spain, was present at the funeral alongside Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez. 

“We wanted to be close to his parents, his wife and daughter. In moments of pain, football comes together more than ever,” said de la Fuente on the day of mourning.

It was a touching moment as Spain will undoubtedly use this international window to unite the country during a period of mourning, especially in the second match against England, held at Atlético de Madrids Metropolitano stadium.    

The squad list from Spain, now 42 matches unbeaten and 11 straight victories, comes with a few new additions amid some injuries.

World Cup winners Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Pau Cubarsí and Fermín Lopez are back alongside goalkeeper Joan García to make it five Barcelona players in the squad. There could have been more but Rodri, Dani Olmo and Eric García are injured and theres no space for Gavi once again as De La Fuente feels the 22-year-old is not quite up to speed.  

Tottenham defender Pedro Porro, who missed the World Cup due to injury, is notable returnee. There will be other fresh faces such as Como defender Jacobo Ramón, who has been instrumental for Cesc Fàbregas side (fourth in the Champions League table and Italy’s Serie A), as well as Real Betis duo of Marc Roca and goalkeeper Álvaro Valles. Atlético Madrid’s extremely talented midfielder Pablo Barrios comes back to the squad, alongside Ander Barrenetxea from Real Sociedad.

Harry Kane is back, fresh off winning the Ballon d’Or. But the intrigue in this squad lies elsewhere, most notably whether we see the latest set of brothers share the pitch for England.

It certainly wasn’t surprising that Three Lions manager Thomas Tuchel called up Jude Bellingham to his 26-man roster for the games against Croat