Separatist politics have long spilled onto Spanish football pitches. In Catalonia, where nationalist sentiments run deep, clubs like FC Barcelona have historically served as powerful symbols of the pro-independence movement. Their matches have often become venues in which fans display separatist flags and placards, and at major games they’ve expressed their support for separatism by whistling while the Spanish national anthem is played and booing dignitaries like Spain’s King Felipe VI.

The national team, which plays a World Cup quarter-final match Friday against Belgium, has also found itself enmeshed in separatist controversy. But the political drama has largely been missing from this year’s squad.

In the nearly 9 years that have elapsed since the Catalan independence referendum, the pro-independence movement has lost steam and the region’s citizens have grown tired of the constant tension with the rest of Spain. Since regional elections were held in 2024, when nationalist parties failed to win a majority of seats for the first time since 1984, the Catalan government has since focused on normalizing relations with Madrid.

That shift is evident in football. While FC Barcelona remains the region’s most beloved team, it is today a much more international operation, a powerhouse with a commercial strategy that targets an international audience with global football stars like Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski.

They stand in contrast to figures like long-time Barcelona player Gerard Piqué, a much-decorated defender who was also a member of Spain’s national team.

When Piqué, who was born and raised in Barcelona, was first drafted to play on the national team, the Catalan separatist movement had not yet exploded, and the center back largely avoided publicly discussing Catalan independence. Indeed, after Spain won the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he became a beloved figure across the country. Likewise, when he was drafted for the 2014 edition of the tournament in Brazil, he wasn’t associated with the growing push to separate Catalonia from Spain.

But in 2017 Piqué publicly declared his support for a proposed referendum on the region’s independence, and after the Spanish government moved to shut down the unauthorized vote, he criticized the violent crackdown that saw police deployed to polling stations. Although the footballer insisted that he was not a separatist, he stressed that Catalans should have a say in their future. “You should be able to vote yes, no, or abstain, but you should be able to vote,” he said at the time.

Piqué’s stance made him a controversial figure ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. In the lead up to the tournament, he was verbally abused by spectators at training sessions, leading him to offer to drop out of the national team if he was determined to be too much of a distraction. He played, but announced his retirement from the group following Spain’s elimination from the tournament.

There’s no lack of Catalans on Spain’s current national team. The country’s biggest star, Lamine Yamal, plays for Barça and was born in a suburb of Barcelona, and he’s accompanied by eight other players born or raised in the region, among them Pau Cubarsí and Marc Cucurella.

While none of them are known for making pro-independence statements, three of them — Eric García, Dani Olmo, and Joan García — were recently embroiled in controversy after being photographed with a separatist symbol. After FC Barcelona won the Spanish league title last May, the players were seen waving esteladas — a flag associated with the Catalan independence movement — while parading through the regional capital. Although some conservatives called for them to not be included in the national team, all three were ultimately tapped to take part in this year’s tournament.

Forrás