Barcelona will likely be hoping that their seven players in the Spain squad do well at the World Cup anyway, but now they have a financial incentive to back Luis Enrique’s side.
As Relevo have detailed, each club will receive compensation from FIFA for each day that they are absent from the club. Reaching the final would mean a maximum compensation of €370k per player, while falling at the first stage would still earn clubs €180k per player.
Should Argentina and Spain make the final, a maximum of around €10m will be distributed to La Liga clubs in compensation fees.
The Blaugrana have more players than anyone involved at the World Cup save Bayern Munich (17), counting 16 players at the tournament. Their ideal final of La Roja against the Netherlands would mean a boost of €3.3m for them, featuring nine of their players, seven for Spain and Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay for die Oranje. As a minimum, they should earn €2.8m from all of those players in the group stages.
For rivals Real Madrid, who have 13 players at the tournament, their ideal final would be France against Brazil, meaning an income of €2.2m.
Atletico Madrid and Sevilla could earn €1.8m each, if Argentina reach the final against Spain or Morocco respectively, while Villarreal could receive €1.4m, if Spain-Argentina took place.
Of course, all of this income does come at a cost. It may result in injuries down the line and at the very least, varying degrees of fatigue for star players. The managers themselves would no doubt be willing to sacrifice some of the bounty to have their players back fit and rested.
While I like Real Madrid, ive never been particularly fond of Spanish national team, let alone Argentina.
So, out of this perspective, we will be hoping for a quick exit for both.