World Soccer.—This weekend features a blockbuster match in La Liga, as Atlético Madrid hosts FC Barcelona this Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, on ESPN and DirecTV.
Not only is this a matchup between the second- and first-place teams in the league—separated by just two points in the standings—but it’s also a game that brings together 14 FIFA World Cup champions from both rosters.
Based on the rosters for the 2026–27 season, this is the club match featuring the most World Cup champions between the two teams. FC Barcelona has eight players on its roster who have lifted soccer’s most prestigious trophy at the international level—more than any other club in the world at the moment—while Atlético Madrid has six World Cup champions, the second-highest total of any club today.
All of Barça’s World Cup champions won the title this past year with Spain: Joan García, Eric García, Pau Cubarsí, Gavi, Pedri, Rodri, Dani Olmo, and Lamine Yamal. Marc Pubill, Alejandro Grimaldo, Marcos Llorente, and Álex Baena of Atlético Madrid also won it with La Roja last summer, while Cristian Romero and Julián Álvarez were world champions with Argentina in 2022. In other words, there will be world-class talent everywhere.
World-Class Showdowns
Several of these world champions will face off directly in the same areas of the field, setting the stage for some fascinating one-on-one matchups. Alejandro Grimaldo, who has gotten off to an excellent start at Atlético Madrid following his arrival this summer from Bayer Leverkusen, will face the difficult task of trying to contain FC Barcelona’s right winger, Lamine Yamal.
It will also be very interesting to see how Álex Baena fares against Barça defenders like Eric García and Pau Cubarsí and whether he can beat goalkeeper Joan García, who is no stranger to facing the Atleti player’s powerful shots during training sessions with the Spanish national team. Similarly, Julián Álvarez will look to score in his second consecutive home league match, though to do so he’ll have to get past the Spanish defenders who did such a good job against him in the 2026 World Cup final.
In midfield, Pedri and Rodri are expected to start and will look to set the pace of the game as they usually do, though they’ll always be aware that one of their national teammates could burst into the midfield and steal the ball from them at any moment. Everything points to this being a thrilling matchup.
FC Barcelona is looking to avenge last season’s losses
Although Barça won both La Liga matchups between these clubs last season—on their way to winning their second consecutive league title—Diego Simeone’s team did knock the Catalan side out of two cup competitions. A 4-0 home victory by Atlético Madrid was enough to knock Barça out of the Copa del Rey, even though the Azulgranas won the second leg of that series 3-0. Later, the two clubs faced off again in the Champions League, where a 2-0 win by Atlético at the Spotify Camp Nou was followed by a 2-1 victory for FC Barcelona in Madrid, with Atlético advancing to the next round on a 3-2 aggregate score.
Right now, these are the top two teams in La Liga, and Atlético Madrid has strung together seven consecutive league wins. Backed by their fans, Los Rojiblancos will give it their all to try to defeat Hansi Flick’s team and climb to the top of the standings.
