Where are they now? The iconic Barcelona XI that won the 2015 Club World Cup
In December 2015, Luis Enrique’s Barcelona capped off a historic year with a routine 3-0 victory over Argentinian giants River Plate in the Club World Cup final in Yokohama, Japan.
Lionel Messi scored the opener before Luis Suarez bagged a brace in the second half. Almost a decade later, the two forwards are set to return to the Club World Cup, in FIFA’s inaugural edition of the greatly expanded tournament, but what became of the rest of that iconic team?
We’ve revisited that XI in full. Here’s where each player on the teamsheet is, 10 years on.
GK: Claudio Bravo
The Chile international was given the nod to start the Club World Cup final, but it was in the 2015-16 campaign that he began to fall behind Marc-Andre ter Stegen in Luis Enrique’s pecking order.
After struggling at Manchester City, Bravo returned to La Liga in 2020 and continued playing until his forties with Real Betis. He finally announced his retirement last year.
RB: Dani Alves
In 2023, Dani Alves’ football legacy was put into perspective by serious legal issues.
The Brazilian was convicted of rape, receiving a prison sentence of four and a half years, along with an order to pay €150,000 in compensation to the victim. Alves was later released on bail after paying €1million.
Earlier this year, his conviction was overturned on appeal by a Spanish court.
CB: Gerard Pique
Having fallen down the pecking order, Pique announced his retirement midway through Barcelona’s title-winning 2022-23 campaign.
He won nine La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey and three Champions Leagues with his boyhood club.
Pique remains an active media presence in his retirement and has his finger in a lot of pies when it comes to investments and entrepreneurship, most notably as president of the Kings League, which sees famous content creators and former footballers compete on the pitch, and as the owner of second-tier FC Andorra.
Many expect him to one day stand for election as Barcelona’s president.
CB: Javier Mascherano (Thomas Vermaelen, ’81)
Half of the outfielders in this starting XI are working for Inter Miami now. That’s kind of wild, isn’t it?
The first name on this teamsheet to retire, Mascherano saw out his career back in Argentina with Estudiantes.
He went on to take charge of Argentina’s Under-20s and Under-23s before landing the Inter Miami job last summer – and now he’s coaching four of his old Barca team-mates.
The famously tenacious utility man has had a rocky start to life as an MLS manager. He’ll be under pressure if Inter Miami fail to perform at the Club World Cup.
Vermaelen made a relatively rare cameo for Barcelona to help see out the clean sheet against River Plate.
The defender retired in 2021 after a stint with Vissel Kobe. He’s since served as an assistant coach for the Belgium national team.
LB: Jordi Alba
“I don’t get tired of winning,” Alba told CBS Sports after leaving Barcelona for Inter Miami.
“I want to keep winning, to keep competing. If I didn’t have that excitement, I wouldn’t have come here. I would have stayed in Barcelona, at home, not playing football.
“The opportunity was very attractive. I also wanted to get back with Leo [Messi] and Busi [Sergio Busquets] and now Luis [Suarez] has also come. So these were the incentives that led me to make that decision.”
DM: Sergio Busquets
The La Masia graduate followed Messi to Miami back in 2023.
He’s made over a hundred appearances alongside the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner than any other player.
Six hundred and twenty-two and counting.
CM: Andres Iniesta
It’s wild to think that Iniesta isn’t much older than Luka Modric. Seven years have passed since he waved an emotional goodbye to Barcelona.
The era-defining midfield maestro went on to make over a hundred appearances for Japanese outfit Vissel Kobe before finally seeing out his career in the UAE Pro League with Emirates FC.
There were whispers that the veteran would reunite with his old pals in Miami, but they didn’t come to anything.
Announcing his retirement last year, Iniesta explained: “[these are] tears of emotion and pride, not sadness. They are the tears of a little boy who always wanted to be a footballer, and who made it happen.”
He’s now doing a coaching course and has been tipped to return to Barcelona.
CM: Ivan Rakitic (Sergi Roberto, ’67)
After six trophy-laden years in Catalonia, Rakitic returned to his beloved Sevilla for a second stint in 2020.
At the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, the Croatian midfielder won a second Europa League (of course he did) to go with the one he won in his first spell.
After a brief, lucrative half season with Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Shabab, Rakitic signed for Croatian giants Hajduk Split last year. Like Messi, he’s still going at the age of 37.
Jack-of-all-trades Roberto finally left Barcelona last summer and now plays under his former team-mate Cesc Fabregas at Serie A upstarts FC Como.
FWR: Lionel Messi
Who?
READ: Reports of Lionel Messi’s decline are greatly exaggerated: Now for the Club World Cup
ST: Luis Suarez
“You deserved to depart for who you are: one of the most important players in the club’s history, winning things as part of a group and individually,” a fuming Messi posted when Suarez’s Barcelona departure was confirmed back in 2020.
“Not for them to kick you out as they have done. But the truth is nothing surprises me anymore.”
The Uruguayan went on to prove his eternal class, continuing to score bagfuls of goals and lifting silverware with Atletico Madrid, Nacional, Gremio and now back alongside Messi at Inter Miami.
FWL: Neymar (Jeremy Mathieu, ’89)
The Brazilian is currently in limbo, having stepped up his comeback tour at his boyhood club Santos.
He’s had his moments since putting his Saudi Pro League nightmare behind him, but there have been bumps along the way and he now finds himself suspended for the final game of his current deal with Santos.
Like Iniesta, he’d been tipped to reunite with Messi and company out in Miami – including a short-term deal for the Club World Cup – but those reports have failed to materialise into anything concrete.
Extending at Santos appears most likely, but Neymar’s immediate future remains up in the air.
His stated ambition is making it to next summer’s World Cup, but can he get fit and firing again to make his way into Carlo Ancelotti’s plans? Watch this space.
Mathieu retired in 2020 after leaving Sporting Lisbon. The Frenchman recently went viral after being spotted working in a sports shop near Marseille, which he’s doing while undertaking his coaching badges.
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