Confirmed: Seven Barcelona academy players named in Spain U17 World Cup squad

Confirmed: Seven Barcelona academy players named in Spain U17 World Cup squad As many as seven Barcelona youth talents will be a part of the Spain national team squad at the upcoming U17 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Indeed, manager David Cubillo has called up seven exciting La Masia talents in the form of Raul Exposito, Sergi Mayans, Baba Kourouma, Jordi Pesquer, Ebrima Tunkara, Roberto Tomas and Iu Martinez. Of the seven players, four happen to be defenders: Exposito, Mayans, Kourouma, and Pesquer, who has already had some experience in the first-team dynamics, having participated in the pre-season during the summer. Meanwhile, Tunkara, who continues to be called up to first-team training regularly, and Roberto Tomas will be the midfielders representing Barça at the U17 World Cup with Spain. Iu Martinez is the only forward from La Masia to be called up for the tournament. The seven Barça players will report for the training camp in Madrid on 9 November before flying to Qatar for the tournament. As such, they will miss an important stretch of matches with the club’s youth and reserve teams. Spain have been drawn in Group H, along with Morocco, Fiji, and China. Having never won the U17 World Cup, they will be eager to follow in the footsteps of the senior national team and the U15 side and lift the trophy.