‘They’re still playing…’ – Barcelona star critical of Club World Cup | OneFootball

A member of the defensive ranks at La Liga champions Barcelona has this week moved to reveal his bemusement with the scheduling of the FIFA Club World Cup.

The player in question? Jules Koundé.

The newly-formatted Club World Cup is of course currently being played out in the USA.

With representation at the tournament based on a points system in European competition over recent years, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid were the two Spanish clubs handed spots by FIFA.

Barcelona, in turn, missed out, a blow to those behind the scenes at the Camp Nou, in the knowledge of the lucrative prizes up for grabs stateside this summer.

As alluded to above, though, one member of Hansi Flick’s squad has this weekend hinted that he would not have been overly keen to line out at the Club World Cup, even if Barca had been included.

In a post on his official ‘X’ account Jules Koundé wrote:

‘There are teams whose season started mid-July 2024… it’s July 4, 2025, and they’re still playing…’

Conor Laird – GSFN