Fifth consecutive World Cup with Barça finalists
Spain's victory over Belgium has not only sent eight more culers through to the World Cup semi-finals, it has also guaranteed that at least one FC Barcelona player will feature in the World Cup final. That's because Spain will face Jules Koundé's France in the last four.
This is far from an isolated occurrence. In fact, it will be the fifth consecutive World Cup final to feature at least one Barça player, a run stretching back to the 2010 tournament in South Africa and spanning 16 years.
From South Africa to Qatar
At Qatar 2022, Barça's representatives were French duo Jules Koundé and Ousmane Dembélé, who finished runners-up after losing the final to Argentina. At Russia 2018, Barça players featured on both sides in the final: Samuel Umtiti and Ousmane Dembélé lifted the trophy with France, while Ivan Rakitić represented Croatia. Four years earlier, at Brazil 2014, Javier Mascherano and Lionel Messi reached the final with Argentina, only to lose to Germany.
The record for the highest number of Barça players in a World Cup-winning squad came at South Africa 2010, when all eight Barça representatives with Spain (Víctor Valdés, Carles Puyol, Gerard Piqué, Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta, Pedro Rodríguez and David Villa) helped defeat the Netherlands in the final.
Could have been nine
This remarkable run could have been even longer. The only interruption came at Germany 2006, when no Barça player reached the final. There is, however, a slight caveat: Gianluca Zambrotta, who won the tournament with Italy, and Lilian Thuram, who finished as runner-up with France, both joined Barça after the competition had ended.
Before that, Barça players also appeared in the finals of the 2002, 1998 and 1994 World Cups, all of them Brazilians: Rivaldo (2002 and 1998), Giovanni Silva (1998) and Romário (1994). Without the gap in 2006, Barça could now be celebrating a run of representatives in nine consecutive World Cup finals, spanning 32 years.
The club's first World Cup finalists date back to the 1974 tournament in West Germany, when Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens finished runners-up after the Netherlands were beaten 2-1 by the hosts. Neeskens reached another final in 1978, but suffered the same fate as the Dutch lost 3-1 to Argentina.