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 ultimately did not make the 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 of 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 failed to make the final 26-man squad.

It is worth noting that last year, when he had fallen far down the pecking order at Xeneize, he had already stopped being called up for both the World Cup qualifiers and friendlies. That is why last March he joined 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 made 11 appearances and scored two goals.

With the Switzerland national team, the Atlético Rafaela academy 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 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 for Manuel Akanji, Breel Embolo, Nico Elvedi, Remo Freuler, and Denis Zakaria it will be their third appearance after being there in 2018 and 2022. On the other hand, the popular Xherdan Shaqiri, 34, has not played for Switzerland since 2024, which is why he is not part of the squad.

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

Making their World Cup debuts 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. They 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.