When will Barcelona's Spanish players return from the World Cup? | OneFootball

Following Spain's shock exit from the 2022 World Cup, Barcelona are expecting a chunk of players to report back to the club imminently.

La Roja crashed out of Qatar in the last 16 at the hands of Morocco, who held Spain to a goalless draw over 120 minutes and completely dismantled them on penalties.

Sevilla's Yassine Bounou and Madrid-born Achraf Hakimi proved the heroes for the Atlas Lions as they romped to a comprehensive 3-0 shootout victory, where Luis Enrique's side crumbled.

Sergio Busquets was one of the players to fail to score in the shootout, but will be putting that behind him as he prepares to return to Barcelona on December 16, along with the seven other Barcelona representatives in the Spain squad, according to Mundo Deportivo.

The report states that head coach Xavi has given the contingent extra days of leave so they can recharge following their World Cup campaign, before returning to training ahead of La Blaugrana's return to action on December 31.

As well as Busquets, La Roja had taken Jordi Alba, Pedri, Gavi, Ferran Torres, Eric Garcia, Ansu Fati and Alejandro Balde to the Middle East, with most featuring regularly under Enrique.

Garcia and Fati were the two who featured least, with Enrique not making use of the defender at all, while only turning to Fati as an option from the bench.