This 23rd World Cup is the biggest in history, with no fewer than 48 national teams disputing the finals in the United States of America, Mexico and Canada from June 11 through to July 19.

This World Cup has a blaugrana tinge to it too, given many players have been called up to represent their respective nations. The blaugranes will be looking to make their presence felt and we will be rounding up all the news regarding our players every day here as the tournament progresses, so why not bookmark this page and keep checking in. Please note that all times are CEST.

Monday, June 15

Spain have not started the World Cup the way they wanted. They dominated minnows Cape Verde from start to finish but could not find a goal against a well-organised defence, and it ended in a disappointing 0-0 draw. Pedro, Ferran Torres and Gavi all started the game, while Lamine Yamal, making his comeback from injury, and Dani Olmo were both introduced towards the end of the second half. The two Barça substitutes made an important impact after coming on, but too late to get the campaign off to a winning start.

FC Barcelona youth player Hamza Abdelkarim came on for the last quarter of an hour of Egypt's game, moments after Belgium has grabbed an equaliser after going a goal down in the first half. What an occasion to make your competitive debut for your country.

Another player set to make his World Cup debut is Ronald Araujo, whose Uruguay face Saudi Arabia at 12am.

Sunday, June 14

Frenkie de Jong played all 90 minutes of the 2-2 draw between the Netherlands and Japan. Former blaugrana Ronald Koeman looked on as his took the lead twice in the game only for Japan to come back twice, the second equaliser coming in the 88th minute. Other games saw Ivory Coast defeat Ecuador 1-0, Germany put seven past Curaçao in a 7-1 victory and Sweden also had a handsome 5-1 win over Tunisia. 

The day's matches began with Raphinha becoming the first blaugrana to play in this World Cup as Brazil drew 1-1 with Morocco. He played the full 90 minutes, starting on the right wing before moving into a central role, as his side went behind to a goal by Saibari after Morocco had started strongly. Real Madrid man Vinícius then equalised soon after, as the game between these two fancied sides ended even.

Saturday, June 13

No blaugrana involvement yet, but the other two host nations got underway with the United States recording an emphatic 4-1 victory over Paraguay, while Canada got their first points at a World Cup in the 1-1 draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Later in the day, Qatar scored their first ever World Cup goal as they surprised Switzerland with a late equaliser, with the match ending 1-1.Other games already played today saw Scotland edge out Haiti 1-0, while Australia overcame Turkey 2-0.

Friday, June 12

Mexico and South Korea collected the first wins of the competition at the expense of South Korea and Czechia, with no Barça involvement on the opening day. Today the other two host countries play their first games. Canada are facing Bosnia Herzegovina, while the USA (including ex-blaugrana Dest) take on Paraguay.

Thursday, June 11

The big day has finally arrived. This evening at 9.00pm, Mexico and South Africa are set to play the opening match at the famous Azteca stadium. That's followed by South Korea v Czechia at 4.00am.

No blaugranes are set to be involved, but remember that no fewer than 16 Barça players are at this World Cup. This means there will be some FC Barcelona player involvement on most days, so our blaugrana World Cup schedule can prove helpful to know when and where that will be.

What's more, there are other FC Barcelona links at this World Cup. As well as the current players, there are three coaches with a blaugrana past, such as Ronald Koeman with Netherlands, Julen Lopetegui with Qatar and Thomas Christiansen with Panama. Furthermore, there are many former Barça players, from Messi to Neymar, plus Dembélé, Kessie and several La Masia players. Unfortunately Ez Abde won't be there, as his injury on the eve of the tournament sees him miss out for Morocco.

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