Barcelona are set to earn a windfall, following FIFA’s announcement of the Club Benefits Programme, as a result of their players’ participation at the 2022 World Cup.
The Blaugrana received the second-highest windfall out of 440 clubs across the globe, as 17 players from the squad last season participated in the tournament in Qatar.
Barcelona have received over $4.5m (£3.4m), a total only bettered by Manchester City, and even received sums from the participation of Antoine Griezmann and Lionel Messi, who had previously left club, whilst the recently departed Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba also went to the tournament with Spain.
French pair Jules Kounde and Ousmane Dembele also reached the final, contributing heavily to the fund, whilst there were a lot of players in the Spain national team squad.
The 17 participating Barcelona players were: Dembele, Kounde, Pedri, Gavi, Eric Garcia, Alejandro Balde, Jordi Alba, Ansu Fati, Ferran Torres, Sergio Busquets, Frenkie De Jong, Memphis Depay, Andreas Christensen, Raphinha, Ronald Araujo, Marc-Andre Ter Stegen and Robert Lewandowski.
How did Barcelona players fare at the World Cup?
Although former star Lionel Messi lifted the trophy with Argentina after a sensational tournament, no other current Barcelona player was able to celebrate the glory alongside him.
Dembele was substituted in the first half of the final in what was a poor display from the winger, whilst Barcelona’s Spanish contingent were shocked at the hands of Morocco.
De Jong and Memphis were eliminated in the quarter-finals at the hands of the eventual Champions, whilst Raphinha’s Brazil were embarrassingly knocked out by Croatia on penalties.
Lewandowski’s Poland were knocked out by France, with the striker scoring two goals in his three appearances.
Christensen, Araujo and Ter Stegen’s sides were knocked out in the group stages, and Ter Stegen once again watched from the sidelines as he could not displace Manuel Neuer as Germany’s first choice goalkeeper.