From Lamine Yamal to Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham, many Barcelona and Madrid players will be involved in the 2026 FIFA World Cup semifinals.
La Liga has pushed back Barcelona’s and Real Madrid’s opening matches for the coming season due to the number of players from both clubs involved in the FIFA World Cup semifinals.
France face Spain in the first of the last-four matches on Tuesday while England take on Argentina in Wednesday’s clash.
Among the key Barcelona players involved in the World Cup semifinals are Spain’s Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo as well as England’s Anthony Gordon.
Madrid’s talisman Kylian Mbappe is joined by Los Blancos midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni in the France side while Real playmaker Jude Bellingham has proved the pivotal player of England’s campaign.
After La Liga’s decision on Tuesday, however, Barcelona will start their season at Elche on August 23 with their original opener against Bilbao delayed until August 27.
Madrid were due to host Real Sociedad on the opening weekend, but the league has moved that game to August 26.
That means manager Jose Mourinho‘s first La Liga game in charge of Madrid in his second spell at the club will be away at Espanyol on August 22.
Atletico Madrid’s Argentinian pair of Julian Alvarez and Nahuel Molina, however, will both be required to kick off against Malaga on August 19 as originally scheduled.
Argentina and England meet at the World Cup for the sixth time, facing off in Wednesday’s semifinal in Atlanta.
Spain-France clash is filled with superstars like Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Lamine Yamal, among others.
Prices for the Argentina vs England semifinal have seen a 34 percent increase over the past three days.
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