SPAIN’s hopes in the 2026 World Cup depend to a large degree on the performance of Barcelona’s players and in particular, the talented Lamine Yamal, the player of the year in La Liga and the world’s most highly valued footballer.
Barca have 15 representatives in the World Cup, but Yamal will be watched closely as a potential star of the tournament. He scored 24 goals for his club in 2025-26 and was responsible for 17 assists as Barca scored 144 times in all competitions. Barca’s squad has been built around its very successful youth system, partly out of necessity following the club’s financial crisis – players like Yamal, Fermin López, Pedri, Gavi and Pau Cubarsi all came through the ranks. With an average age of 25, the squad is the youngest in La Liga.
Barca have now won three of the last four league titles and finished eight points ahead of a rather lack-lustre Real Madrid in 2025-26. To rub salt in Real’s wounds, the title was won after 2-0 win in _El Clasico_, only the second time this has occurred and the first time since 1932. Barca’s success has been built on goals from all departments of the team, 95 in the league, bringing their total for two seasons to almost 200. Sixteen Barca players scored in the league, with four netting over 12. It was also a case of win or bust, for Barca won 31 of 38 games and drew only once. They conceded just 36 goals in La Liga and goalkeeper Joan Garcia, signed from Espanyol in the summer of 2025 for € 25 million, won the Zamora Trophy with 15 clean sheets.
Although they finished 25 points ahead of fourth-placed Atlético Madrid, Barca were knocked out of both the Copa del Rey and UEFA Champions League by Diego Simeone’s team. They will undoubtedly see the latter as an opportunity lost, as Atléti then went of the competition at the hands of Arsenal. But they underlined their firepower when they thrashed Newcastle United 7-2 at Camp Nou in the round of 16.
Hansi Flick’s target will surely be the Champions League in 2026-27 after two successive league title wins. Flick joined the club in May 2024 and has an impressive win rate of more than 75%. Off the field, the remodelled Camp Nou (now sponsored by Spotify) is taking shape and crowds were up to around 60,000 in the latter stages of the season. Eventually, the capacity will be 100,000. Barca continue to chip away at their net debt, which currently stands at around € 1 billion. In 2024-25, the club generated more than € 900 million in revenues and made a modest pre-tax loss of £ 8 million. Challenges remain at Barcelona, but a vibrant young team has done a lot to change the narrative.
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