Aspen: Lille forward Pardo declined Spanish U21 call-up and may play for Belgium

According to a report by AS, Lille forward Pardo may play for the Belgian national team. He has declined the call-up of Spain U21 many times.

Pardo was born in Brussels, Belgium, to a Spanish father. He represented Belgium's youth national teams at all levels during his youth training, but later expressed a desire to play for Spain. Since then, Spain have tried three times to call him up for their youth squad, but he has avoided playing for Spain each time to avoid losing his eligibility to play for Belgium. Belgium has promised Pardo a clear sports plan starting from the 2026 World Cup, while Spain currently only regards him as a youth team international candidate.

Spanish national team sporting director Karanka is in communication with Pardo and his family. But Pardo said he regretted that the Spanish Football Federation has not yet sent anyone to France to interview him in person. In a previous similar case with Yamal, the Spanish Football Federation responded quickly and sent its then technical secretary, Francis Hernandez, to Barcelona to personally meet with Yamal and his father in a restaurant and successfully persuaded him to commit to representing the Spanish national team.

But Pardo has not yet received such treatment. He may, like Achraf or Dias, end up choosing to represent another qualifying country, which in his case would be Belgium.