MADRID — The Spanish soccer federation says Andres Iniesta, Alvaro Morata and Dani Carvajal will miss two World Cup qualifying matches because of injuries.
The trio will miss Spain's World Cup qualifiers against Albania on Friday and Israel on Monday.
The federation on Sunday said Iniesta and Morata have muscle injuries and Carvajal has a viral infection related to his heart.
Iniesta was hurt in Barcelona's 3-0 win over Las Palmas on Sunday and is expected to be sidelined for 10 days, while Morata was injured in Chelsea's 1-0 home loss to Manchester City on Saturday in the Premier League.
Carvajal was ruled out of Real Madrid's 2-0 win over Espanyol because of an infection that is affecting the membrane that encloses his heart.
Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said Carvajal's injury was not serious, but he did not say how long the right back was expected to be sidelined.
The Spanish federation said the players' replacement will be announced on Monday.
Spain leads Group G of European World Cup qualifying with 22 points, three ahead of Italy.
Only the group winner automatically qualifies for next year's tournament in Russia.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
