The number of national sides left in the 2026 World Cup reduces with every round now and many players have already said goodbye to the tournament, which has reached the quarterfinal stage. All eyes are now on the teams still in the hunt for the trophy, three of which feature 10 blaugrana players in total, namely Spain, France and England.

This means that two FC Barcelona players didn't manage to get through the last 16 round. Raphinha and Brazil lost out to Norway and Hamza Abdelkarim and Egypt were close to going through, but Leo Messi and Argentina made a late comeback to knock them out.

Kounde and France

Only one of the quarterfinals doesn't feature a blaugrana player, but the other fixtures could all see an FC Barcelona player in action, albeit none can knock each other out of the tournament. France and Jules Kounde are the first to see quarterfinal action against Morocco on Thursday 9 July at 10.00pm CEST. The defender has featured at right back consistently for Didier Deschamps and they reached this round by overcoming Paraguay.

Eight blaugranes with Spain

Joan Garcia, Eric, Cubarsí, Gavi, Pedri, Olmo, Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres had a tough test to get through to the quarterfinals. A late victory against Portugal means they now face Belgium. The match kicks off at 9.00pm CEST on Friday and the squad with the most blaugrana representation will be striving to reach the final four of the competition.

Gordon and England

This summer's first signing proved key in helping England qualify for the quarterfinals. A very exciting match against Mexico saw Gordon front and centre with two assists. The Three Lions are now set to face Norway on 11 July (kick-off 11.00pm CEST). It's likely to be another tough test, as the Nordic side are one of the revelations of this World Cup and have one of the competition's top scorers in their ranks in Haaland.

The remaining quarterfinal does not feature an FC Barcelona player, but there is a blaugrana feel to it as Leo Messi and Argentina take on Switzerland to complete the lineup of what look like some mouthwatering contests.

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