FCBARCELONA.CAT

28.06.2007 10:41

Six World Champions

Jesús Carrillo

With the incorporation of Thierry Henry, FC Barcelona now has no fewer than six World Cup winners in the squad.

The following Barça players have won the World Cup: Lilian Thuram and Henry (France), Ronaldinho, Edmílson and Belletti (Brazil) and, most recently, Gianluca Zambrotta (Italy).

Over three World Cups

These six players have picked up their medals over an eight-year period, starting with the 1998 France World Cup and finishing with the last year’s World Cup in Germany. In 1998, the host country beat Brazil by a comfortable 3-0 score line with a formidable squad that included Lilian Thuram and Thierry Henry.

Five times winners Brazil

In the 2002 World Cup held in Japan and South Korea – the first one outside of the European and American continents – Brazil won their fifth competition. Ronaldinho, who played five matches, and Edmílson, who played them all, were unbeaten throughout the tournament and won the final 2-0 against Germany. Belletti played a minor role.

Italy 24 years later

Italy won last year’s tournament despite not being among the fancied teams, beating France in a penalty shootout in the final. Zambrotta, a regular in Marcello Lippi’s line-ups, picked up his winners medal, while Henry and Thuram had to settle for runners-up medals.

Goal scorers

Five of these players – the exception is Belletti – have also scored in the World Cup finals. In 1998, Henry scored three and Thuram two, both of them in the semi-final against Croatia. Ronaldinho scored twice in 2002 while Edmílson got one. Finally, Zambrotta scored in the quarterfinals of the last World Cup against Ukraine.