FC Barcelona had 17 players fly out to Qatar in November in the hopes of progressing far in the World Cup 2022, and as it stands, 14 of those promising 17 have made it past the initial group stage of the prestigious tournament.
Among these 14, 8 were representing the Spanish National Team. Ansu Fati, Ferran Torres, Eric Garcia, Alejandro Balde, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Pedri, and Gavi were the latest entry to the Round of 16, and despite the loss to Japan in their final group game, La Roja joined the final 16 in Qatar.
Apart from the Spanish internationals, Barcelona also saw players from Brazil, France, Netherlands, and Poland make it through to the next stage. Raphinha from Brazil, Jules Kounde and Ousmane Dembele from France, Memphis Depay and Frenkie De Jong from the Dutch National team, and Robert Lewandowski from Poland, with the latter having survived a major scare of elimination following their 2-0 loss to Lionel Messi’s Argentina in their final group game in Qatar, being among those that get to represent their nations deeper into the competition.
The two players that are Catalonia-bound thus far are Germany’s Marc Andre Ter-Stegen and Danish defender Andreas Christensen, following their exits in Group E and Group D respectively.
However, the current 14 that get to play the knockout stages may soon be met with a familiar face in Uruguay’s Ronald Araujo, who despite not having played a single minute thus far due to injury may still get to represent his nation in the Round of 16 should Uruguay manage to beat Ghana and simultaneously have a favorable result in the clash between Portugal and South Korea.
