On 19 July, in New York, Spain beat Argentina to win the World Cup — and the goal that settled it was scored by a Barça forward. Five and a half weeks later, the trophy itself is coming to the Spotify Camp Nou.
The World Cup trophy will be at the Camp Nou on Thursday 27 August, when Athletic Club visit, as part of the tribute to the eight Barça internationals who were part of Luis de la Fuente’s champion squad. According to Mundo Deportivo, it will be the fourth ground on the tour.
For a stadium only just getting used to having its own crowd back in it, this is exactly the sort of night the club has been waiting for: silverware nobody at Barça had to negotiate for, and a roll call of names the Camp Nou already adores.
Eight players, one honours list
The Spanish federation organised the tour to recognise the six Spanish clubs who supplied players to the winning squad, and the tributes began on Wednesday at the Estadio Metropolitano. Barça contributed more internationals than anyone — eight in all.
Mundo Deportivo name the eight who will be honoured on the night: Rodrigo Hernández, Pedri, Dani Olmo, Pau Cubarsí, Joan García, Eric García, Gavi and Lamine Yamal. Luis de la Fuente is expected in the directors’ box, as he was at the Metropolitano.
There is a neat wrinkle in that list. Rodri played the tournament as a Manchester City player, and only became a Barça footballer this week — his €60m move from City was confirmed on 18 August, and he was given the loudest ovation of the Gamper squad presentation before he had kicked a ball. Eight days later he gets a second reception, this time with a world champion’s medal.
And there is one absence that will sting slightly. Ferran Torres scored the winner in the final while he was a Barça player, but he is not among the eight on Mundo Deportivo’s list, following his reported summer move to Paris Saint-Germain. The goal belongs to the club’s history regardless.
Why the World Cup trophy at the Camp Nou lands differently
Barça have spent two-plus seasons away from home, at Montjuïc, and 2026-27 is the first full campaign back at the Camp Nou. Almost everything about the stadium this month has been about reintroduction — the Gamper returning for the first time since 2022, Raphinha’s first captain’s speech on the pitch, the squad numbers unveiled in front of a crowd rather than on a graphic.
In that speech, Raphinha made a point of congratulating the world champions in the dressing room. On 27 August the stadium gets to do the same thing properly, with the trophy in the building. It also says something about where this squad sits: Cubarsí, Gavi, Pedri, Lamine and Joan García are all products of, or now central to, a team that has won back-to-back LaLiga titles and supplied the spine of a world-champion national side.
The football still comes first
None of which changes the actual task. Barça open their LaLiga campaign away at Elche on Sunday, and Athletic on the 27th is a considerably harder night than a ceremonial one — the Basques have a long habit of making this fixture uncomfortable.
Flick has also been clear that the squad is not finished. The club are still hunting a No 9 with just over ten days of the window left, and Deco has promised movement in attack. A trophy presentation is a lovely thing to hang on the calendar; a striker would be better.
Still, take the moment. A World Cup won by a Spain squad that drew on more Barça players than any other club, brought back to a rebuilt Camp Nou, with eight of the men who did it standing on the grass. Culers have had worse Thursdays.
