Three captains down: How the FIFA World Cup has been devastating for Barcelona | OneFootball

Barcelona have 16 representatives in the ongoing FIFA World Cup, half of whom are in the Spanish contingent alone.

Just under ten days after the official commencement of the tournament, however, the situation is not looking too promising for the club in terms of the fitness of its players.

Only one matchday has been completed so far, and three Barcelona players are already suffering from injuries or physical setbacks in some capacity, and the competition is beginning to cost the club in that sense.

Three down already

As reported by MARCA, Barcelona captain Ronald Araujo was the first Blaugrana player to return to Barcelona through discomfort as he made the trip back to Spain even before Uruguay played their first game of the event.

Araujo is currently injured. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

There is currently no update on his return and he may not make it back in time for the team’s second game against Cape Verde either.

Frenkie de Jong, another captain, is the second player to suffer a setback and was injured during The Netherlands’ draw against Japan. He played the full 90 minutes despite the discomfort but is a serious doubt for his team’s second game against Sweden later today.

The latest blow, and the most serious one, ironically fell to yet another Barcelona captain – this time Raphinha, leaving all three active captains injured.

The Brazilian left the field in the 40th minute of his team’s game against Haiti last night, and there is serious doubt if he will play in the event again.

Yamal is barely fit either

Lamine has only recently recovered from injury. (Photo by Mattia Ozbot/Getty Images)

While three players suffered injuries after linking up with their national teams, Barcelona star Lamine Yamal was injured before the World Cup and missed the fag end of the league season to recover in time.

He started Spain’s first game of the event on the bench and entered the field in the final ten minutes to inspire an otherwise dull performance. He did great in the closing minutes, but he has admitted that he is still not at his 100%.

With Spain’s next game scheduled in just over 24 hours, he is unlikely to start in that either unless Luis de la Fuente feels the need to force him to keep Spain’s chances alive.

From Barcelona’s perspective, they simply cannot afford any more setbacks and will hope Yamal can be rested as much as possible.