David de Gea to Miss the 2022 World Cup After Being Snubbed From Spain’s Provisional Squad by Luis Enrique

David de Gea to Miss the 2022 World Cup After Being Snubbed From Spain’s Provisional Squad by Luis Enrique

Edwin Kiplagat
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:15 PM
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  • David De Gea is set to miss the World Cup after he was snubbed by Spain boss Luis Enrique who named his 55-man provisional squad
  • The Manchester United goalkeeper missed the squad, which had five goalkeepers, including three from the Premier League
  • The 31-year-old has 45 caps from Spain, and with top goalkeepers coming up for Spain, he is considered a relic of a bygone era

Long-serving Manchester United goalkeeper will not play in the upcoming World Cup after Spain boss Luis Enrique excluded the 31-year-old from his provisional 55-man squad.

De Gea's position with the Spanish national team has been at risk for a while after being overlooked for Brighton's Robert Sanchez and Athletic Bilbao's Unai Simon.

David De Gea, Manchester United, Spain, Luis Enrique, Erik ten Hag, 2022 World Cup
David De Gea has 45 caps for Spain and was the starting keeper in the 2018 tournament. Photo by David S. Bustamante.
Source: Getty Images

Considering Luis Enrique employs an expansive style that requires his goalkeepers to possess elite ball-playing and sweeping skills, De Gea's window of playing for Enrique was slowly closing.

Unai Simon and Robert Sanchez are ahead in the pecking order, and the latest squad indicates De Gea is even farther back. Brentford's David Raya is also expected to be on the plane to Qatar.

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De Gea snubbed by Enrique

According to the Daily Mail, De Gea failed to make Spain's 55-man provisional squad a few weeks to the World Cup.

Despite the squad's big size, the United shot-stopper misses out, with three other Premier League goalkeepers picked instead.

The former Barcelona boss has picked five goalkeepers in the 55-man list, but United number one is not one of them. De Gea was in Spain's squad last November when he was an unused substitute, according to Goal.

Chelsea's Kepa Arrizabalaga and Getafe's David Soria will be backups in case of any injuries or illnesses before the tournament.

De Gea misled by Fernandes

Sports Brief earlier reported on fans taking issue with Bruno Fernades, who they believed misled De Gea when Chelsea's Jorgigno was about to take a penalty.

The hosts' penalty speciality Jorginho stepped up to take the effort, but not before Bruno Fernandes had given David de Gea some advice.

However, fans contend Fernandes misadvised De Gea, with the Spaniard diving to the left as Jorginho buried his effort the other way.

Authors
Edwin Kiplagat photo
Edwin Kiplagat
Edwin Kiplagat has five years of experience in journalism working as a Sports Editor at Africa Insight Communications and ESPN. Edwin Kiplagat is a Bachelor's Degree holder in journalism from the Multimedia University of Kenya.