Barcelona sending all but five players to the World Cup

Barcelona will be sending a record 16 players to the World Cup this winter, surpassing their previous high of 14 at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The Blaugrana have already broken up for a break that is nearly four weeks long for the World Cup, returning on the 5th of December. There are discussions over a friendly with Arsenal on the 17th of December and they will return to action on the 31st of December against Espanyol.

The Spain squad is the side that harbours the most Blaugrana, featuring seven selections, while the Netherlands and France also have two Barcelona players in their squads. It could work against Xavi Hernandez, knowing that they have the most players of any side (Real Madrid have 13) at the World Cup, although it naturally depends on how far those players get.

Only five members of their squad will remain behind in Catalonia; Marcos Alonso, Inaki Pena, Hector Bellerin, and the injured Franck Kessie and Sergi Roberto.

Here is the full list of players who will be attending.

Spain – Eric Garcia, Jordi Alba, Pedri, Gavi, Sergio Busquets, Ansu Fati, Ferran Torres.

France – Jules Kounde, Ousmane Dembele.

The Netherlands – Frenkie de Jong, Memphis Depay.

Denmark – Andreas Christensen

Brazil – Raphinha

Uruguay – Ronald Araujo

Germany  – Marc-Andre Ter Stegen

Poland – Robert Lewandowski