Liga F opens its season on the weekend of 29 and 30 August. Two days earlier, 18 of its players will have reported to Spain’s under-20 camp.
David Aznar has named the 21 players who will represent Spain at the U20 Women’s World Cup in Poland. Eighteen of them belong to six Liga F clubs. Real Madrid and Barcelona provide five each; Athletic Club, Atlético de Madrid, Deportivo and Real Sociedad two apiece.
The other three play for Levante, Juventus and Fiorentina.
The squad announced by the RFEF gathers on Thursday 27 August. The opening round of Liga F follows two days later.
Five of the eight opening fixtures
Five of the eight matches that open Liga F involve at least one club represented in the squad.
Real Madrid v Atlético brings together seven of the internationals: five from Madrid and two from Atlético. Barcelona begin against Costa Adeje Tenerife with five of their own players away with Spain.
Athletic Club, who host Badalona; Deportivo, who face Sevilla; and Real Sociedad, who meet Logroño United, all contribute players too.
The breakdown follows the clubs the RFEF lists alongside each player. Several belong to reserve sides or move between them, so this does not necessarily amount to 18 regular first-team absences.
Caught between two Champions League legs
The chosen start date also falls between the two legs of the final Champions League qualifying round.
Real Madrid and Real Sociedad play their first legs against Ajax and Chelsea on 26 August. The return legs are on 2 September, by which point the squad will already be together.
Between them the two clubs supply seven of the under-20s: Irune Dorado, Laia López, Noemí Bejarano, Paula Comendador and Silvia Cristóbal from Real Madrid; Aiara Agirrezabala and Alazne Estensoro from Real Sociedad.
Spain travel to Poland on 30 August and play a friendly against Canada the following day.
Up to five league rounds away from their clubs
How long the internationals stay away depends on how far Spain go.
The group stage ends on 13 September. The round of 16 is played on 16 and 17 September, the quarter-finals on 19 and 20, and the semi-finals on 23. The third-place match falls on 26 and the final on 27 September.
That last weekend coincides with the fifth round of Liga F, whose fixture list happens to include Real Sociedad v Real Madrid — two of the clubs contributing most players to the squad.
Arques and Casquero miss the final cut
Aznar had initially called up 26 players to prepare for the World Cup.
Clara Serrajordi left the camp after injuring her right wrist. Amaya García and Laura Sánchez also dropped out during the preparation.
The other two from that list who do not appear in the final squad are Daniela Arques, of London City Lionesses, and Bibiana Casquero, of Real Madrid.
Spain’s 21-player squad
- Athletic Club: Daniela Agote and Elene Gurtubay.
- Atlético de Madrid: Celia Segura and Natalia Peñalvo.
- Barcelona: Aïcha Camara, Carla Julià, Julia Torres, Noa Jiménez and Rosalía Domínguez.
- Juventus: Cristina Librán.
- Levante: Anna Álvarez.
- Deportivo: Ainoa Gómez and María Luisa García.
- Real Madrid: Irune Dorado, Laia López, Noemí Bejarano, Paula Comendador and Silvia Cristóbal.
- Real Sociedad: Aiara Agirrezabala and Alazne Estensoro.
- Fiorentina: Alba Cerrato.
When Spain play
Spain are in Group F and play all three of their group matches at the Arena Sosnowiec.
- 7 September, 18:00: Spain v Nigeria.
- 10 September, 15:00: Spain v New Caledonia.
- 13 September, 15:00: China PR v Spain.
Spain won the 2022 U20 World Cup, beating Japan 3-1 in the final. They met Japan again in 2024, and were knocked out by them in the quarter-finals.
