Barcelona have made history by being the club with the most number of players participating in the FIFA World Cup.
Up until a few hours ago, the club had 16 representatives participating in the event, with seven of them coming from the Spain team. That figure has now gone to eight as RFEF has confirmed the inclusion of Alejandro Balde, following the injury of Jose Gaya.
This takes Barcelona’s overall tally to 17, which breaks the record of most representatives for a club in the World Cup. Previously, Barcelona’s tally was matched by Manchester City at 16 and surpassed only by Bayern Munich with 17.
However, the injury to Sadio Mane meant Bayern’s number went down to 16, while Barcelona, thanks to the inclusion of Balde, have now 17 representatives.
The number of players participating in the World Cup also breaks the club record. It was previously held in the 2018 FIFA World Cup when the club supplied 14 players including the likes of Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, Philippe Coutinho and Marc-Andre ter Stegen, among others.
In the 2014 World Cup, Barcelona had 13 players, including Lionel Messi, who reached the final before losing to Germany. Barça also had 13 representatives in the 1998 World Cup.
In addition, Barcelona also surpass the record for most number of representatives in the nation the club are belonging to. Barça currently have eight players in the Spanish national team with the inclusion of Balde, whereas Bayern, the closest competitor, have seven in the German team.
