The Clubs' Bill: Between Real Madrid's Gains and the Fears of Al-Nassr and Al-Ahli... Barcelona the "Winning Loser" of the World Cup Battles

Barcelona entered the 2026 World Cup with a full complement of 14 players. Nine of them reached the final two days of the competition, alongside new English signing Anthony Gordon.

Gordon lined up for England in the third-place play-off, while Jules Koundé wore the shirt of France in the same match.

The final itself featured eight Barcelona players in Spain colours, as follows:

* Goalkeeping: Joan García.

* Defence: Pau Cubarsí and Eric García.

* Midfield: Pedri González, Pablo Gavi and Dani Olmo.

* Attack: Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres.

Ten "influential" Barcelona players going all the way to the final two days carries a cost. It means a heavier physical burden on them and less rest before the new season begins.

The physical toll wasn't the only thing Barcelona took away from the tournament in the Americas. There were other "losses" too:

- 1/ The injury to Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong at knee level, with reports indicating that he could be absent for four to five months, pending an official statement from Barcelona.

- 2/ The poor psychological state of Brazilian star Raphinha Díaz, given the below-par level he showed at the 2026 World Cup and the recurrence of his injury at that time, on top of the leaking of some problems in his personal life.

- 3/ The poor physical condition shown by some players, especially the Spanish duo Pedri González and Lamine Yamal, despite being crowned world champions.

Fear not, dear Barcelona fan. Not everything is bad, for the Catalan giants came away with plenty from the 2026 World Cup too.

The biggest of those gains is the sky-high morale of the Spanish stars after lifting the World Cup, plus Yamal being freed from the pressures of international duty.

Then there's the impressive level shown by 19-year-old defender Pau Cubarsí. He banked hugely valuable experience for the challenges ahead, all of it crowned by the "Best Young Player" award at the 2026 World Cup.

Barcelona also picked up important reassurance over summer signing Anthony Gordon, who shone in the knockout rounds despite a slow start.

Money mattered too. The club will receive significant compensation from FIFA, given how many of its players reached the final two days of the global showpiece.

Barcelona can now also market striker Ferran Torres, scorer of the goal that crowned Spain world champions, for a large fee should his contract not be renewed.

Barcelona were a special case at the 2026 World Cup. In the end, this is the club that came away both "a winner and a loser".

From Barcelona, we turn to their historic rivals Real Madrid, widely seen as the biggest winners of all from the 2026 World Cup.

Yes.. Real Madrid's gains from the World Cup on the American continent boil down to three crucial points, as follows:

* Firstly: Real Madrid's big stars have rediscovered their best physical and technical levels.

* Secondly: the tournament granted the wish of Portuguese head coach Jose Mourinho, who wanted as many Real Madrid stars back as early as possible.

* Thirdly: the dazzling form of Spanish left-back Marc Cucurella, Real Madrid's new summer signing.

Take the first point. Stars such as "the Frenchman Kylian Mbappe, the Brazilian Vinicius Junior and the Englishman Jude Bellingham" delivered brilliant performances after the disastrous 2025-2026 season.

Their technical and physical condition bodes well for Real Madrid ahead of a big season, provided Mourinho deploys the trio properly.

On the second point.. cast your mind back to Mourinho's statement, in which he said he hoped the national teams featuring the Merengues' stars would go out early at the 2026 World Cup, giving them a spell of rest and proper preparation for the new campaign.

And indeed.. most of the national teams featuring Real Madrid's stars did crash out early, with only a handful of names reaching the final two days of the competition. They are:

- 1/ France: Kylian Mbappe and Ibrahima Konate.

- 2/ England: Jude Bellingham.

- 3/ Spain: Marc Cucurella.

Cucurella, meanwhile, put in strong defensive displays as usual, with clear attacking progress too. That reassures Real Madrid over a left-back position that has caused them plenty of grief lately.

There is a third Spanish party worth mentioning after Barcelona and Real Madrid: the capital's club, Atletico Madrid, who supplied nine players to the 2026 World Cup final.

Believe it or not, dear reader, Atletico were the most represented club in that final. Here's how it broke down:

* Spain: Marc Pubill, Marcos Llorente and Alex Baena.

* Argentina: Juan Musso, Nahuel Molina, Thiago Almada, Nico Gonzalez, Giuliano Simeone and Julian Alvarez.

A slight change occurred during the tournament. Gonzalez's loan from the Italian club Juventus ended, while Atletico signed Spanish full-back Alejandro Grimaldo.

Perhaps Atletico, like Catalan giants Barcelona, emerged from the 2026 World Cup as "a winner and a loser" at the same time.

Their losses, though, appear to outweigh their gains at the World Cup on American soil, for the following reasons:

* 1/ Many of their stars were sidelined with their national teams, or failed to shine significantly.

* 2/ Their Argentine stars were left frustrated after losing the 2026 World Cup final.

* 3/ The crisis surrounding Argentine striker Julian Alvarez, which erupted during the tournament.

Alvarez came out during the 2026 World Cup to openly declare that he no longer wanted to stay at Atletico Madrid, and that he wished to chase his dream.

Those comments arrived just as Barcelona were pushing to sign him this summer. That ignited the fury of the capital club's hierarchy, who launched into the player and the Catalan giants alike.

Our look at the winners and losers from the 2026 World Cup takes us next to the French capital, home of European champions Paris Saint-Germain.

Paris emerged from the tournament with plenty to rue, even if several of their biggest names held their level. Chief among them was Frenchman Ousmane Dembélé.

Spare a thought, too, for Fabián Ruiz. The Spaniard rediscovered much of his best form after an injury-ravaged season, then rode a wave of confidence as his national team lifted the 2026 World Cup.

The downsides, though, are easy to spot. Paris Saint-Germain's losses from the World Cup on American soil boil down to a handful of key points:

* First: Severe physical exhaustion. Paris only wrapped up their season on 30 May 2026, thanks to their run to the Champions League final.

* Second: Deflation among many of their players, the French contingent above all, after Les Bleus had to settle for fourth place despite going in as the strongest favourites for the title.

* Third: The poor form of the Portuguese duo João Neves and Vitinha throughout the tournament.

Neves also whipped up plenty of controversy of his own. He claimed the Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo is "a player like everyone else now", a remark that drew fire from fans of the Madeira rocket.

Bayern Munich, meanwhile, came out of the 2026 World Cup as a "winner", and that was down to just one player: the Frenchman Michael Olise.

Olise carried the brilliance he had shown throughout the 2025-2026 season into the World Cup across the American continent. He even walked away with the tournament's "best playmaker" award, racking up 7 assists.

Real Madrid want him badly. The Spanish giants are ready to pay between 200 and 250 million euros to get the deal done, according to numerous press reports.

Olise's brilliance at the 2026 World Cup, then, hands Bayern Munich a guaranteed gain, and it breaks down as follows:

* Proof that his form in 2025-2026 was no temporary spike, and that he will serve the team hugely next season should he stay with the first team.

* Or a huge windfall from selling him to Real Madrid in the current summer window, on the back of the level he displayed at the 2026 World Cup.

The German giants took their World Cup hits, too. The most glaring was the disastrous showing of the "Mannschaft" at the 2026 World Cup, with 6 of the club's stars in the squad.

We can't close this report without turning to the Arab clubs, because two of them stand to be hit hard by the 2026 World Cup:

* Firstly: Al-Nassr of Saudi Arabia.

* Secondly: Al-Ahly of Egypt.

The 2026 World Cup will touch Al-Nassr and Al-Ahly in wildly different ways. One story is about the frustration of its players. The other is about the brilliance of its stars.

Take Al-Nassr first. Their most important names at the World Cup on American soil were the Portuguese duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Joao Felix.

Ronaldo suffered a knockout blow to his career. He bid farewell to the sixth World Cup of his career without ever lifting the title.

His exit with Portugal came in the round of 16 at the 2026 World Cup, at the age of 41. This was his "last dance", and there's no making up for it.

A fierce backlash followed him throughout the tournament, with critics accusing him of becoming a burden on the Portuguese national team and the reason it was tactically restricted.

So Al-Nassr's first team may begin the new 2026-2027 season with their most important player and great captain in a state of frustration.

Al-Ahly of Egypt tell the opposite tale. Their stars shone with the Pharaohs and drove them into the round of 16 at the World Cup for the first time in history.

That brilliance had the offers pouring in for the Cairo giant's stars, among them goalkeeper "Mostafa Shobier, Marwan Attia and Emam Ashour".

Al-Ahly, then, may lose several of their most prominent big names in the current summer transfer window. They might even enter the new season in "a poor state" if the management clings to them against their wishes.

Now we wait. Only time will tell how these clubs and others fare in the 2026-2027 season, after the World Cup.

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