Blondel misses out on the World Cup with Switzerland | OneFootball

Huracán’s right back had played four friendlies during 2025, but since June he had not been called up and also failed to make the final cut.

Huracán defender Lucas Blondel was not included in Switzerland’s squad for the 2026 World Cup, even though he had been called up for four friendlies between March and June last year, when he was still playing for Boca.

The 29-year-old Argentine represents the European national team because his father, Jean-Yves Blondel, was born in Rechy, a city in the south of the country. Although he was part of coach Murat Yakin’s process, he was unable to break into the 26-man squad.

It is worth noting that last year, when he had fallen far down the pecking order at Boca, he had already stopped being called up for the World Cup qualifiers and friendlies as well. That is why last March he joined El Globo on loan until December. At the Parque Patricios side, where he is coached by Diego Martínez, who also managed him at Boca and Tigre, he regained his starting spot as a right midfielder and has totaled 11 matches and two goals.

With the Switzerland national team, the Atlético Rafaela youth product made four appearances: a 1-1 draw against Northern Ireland, a 3-1 win over Luxembourg, a 4-2 victory against Mexico and a 4-0 rout of the United States.

Switzerland’s 26-man squad for the 2026 World Cup.

As for the European side’s squad, the coach will have plenty of experience at his disposal because he called up 17 players who were already in Qatar. Granit Xhaka and Ricardo Rodríguez will play in their fourth World Cup, while Manuel Akanji, Breel Embolo, Nico Elvedi, Remo Freuler and Denis Zakaria will make their third appearance after being there in 2018 and 2022. Meanwhile, the popular Xherdan Shaqiri, 34, has not played for Switzerland since 2024 and therefore is not part of the squad.

Granit Xhaka, now at Sunderland, will play in his fourth World Cup with Switzerland (Stu Forster/Getty Images).

The World Cup debutants will be goalkeeper Marin Keller, defenders Aurele Amenda, Luca Jaquez and Miro Muheim, and forwards Cedric Itten, Johan Manzambi, Dan Ndoye and Zeki Amdouni.

Switzerland will play in Group B at the World Cup. It will open on June 13 against Qatar in San Francisco, face Bosnia and Herzegovina on the 18th in Los Angeles, and Canada on the 24th in Vancouver.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.