Barcelona All-Time Team for Foreign Players

This blogger Artur Yanturin of Russia copied many of my blog teams.  This blog was one of them.  It was my Russia All-Time Team here.  His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.   His Spartak Moscow All-Time team entry of was published in October 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2017.  His entry of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.  He also copied many many of my blog entries.

His Facebook and Instagram

Ronald Koeman, Johan Cruyff and Michael Laudrup

Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.

This is my selection of a 25 member all-time team for Barcelona's Foreign Players.  The number 25 was chosen because it is the official squad size for the Champions' League.

Catalonia World Cup 2010
Spain without Catalan players World Cup 2010
Catalonia All-Time Team,
Barcelona All-Time Team
Barcelona All-Time Team for Spanish Players
Barcelona Dutch Best XI
Dutch-German Rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Barcelona "La Masia" Academy Greatest All-Time team

Founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, Spanish, English, and Catalan footballers led by Joan Gamper, the club has become a symbol of Catalan culture and Catalanism, hence the motto "Més que un club" ("More than a club"). Unlike many other football clubs, the supporters own and operate Barcelona. It is the fourth-most valuable sports team in the world, worth $4.06 billion, and the world's richest football club in terms of revenue, with an annual turnover of €840,8 million.

Despite of being one of the best Spanish sides domestically, Barcelona did not win their first European Cup until 1992 when Johan Cruyff's Dream Team beat Sampdoria in the Final.  For a club with such a long and successful record, the victory was long overdue. However, in the 21st Century, Barcelona's luck changed.  They had won four, more titles.

Luis Suarez, Claudio Bravo and Dani Alves

Team
GK: Ruud Hesp (Netherlands)
Ruud Hesp first got his opportunity with Fortuna Sittard from 1987 and 1994. He then playd for Roda from 1994 to 1997.  However, it was at Barcelona, where he enjoyed the best part of his career. He was their surprise starter over Victor Baia while playing Louis Van Gaal.  He travelled with the Dutch national team to Euro 1996 and the World Cup 1998, but he never earned a single cap for Holland.

GK: Claudio Bravo (Chile)
As of 2018, Claudio Bravo is Chile's most capped player with 119 times.  He was the hero of Chile's two back-to-back Copa America titles in 2015 and 2016, winning penalty shootouts on both Finals.  He also went to two World Cup Finals. He started his professional career playing with Colo-Colo at home.  He also played with Real Sociedad, Barcelona and Manchester City.

GK: Marc-André ter Stegen (Germany)
After four seasons in the Bundesliga with Borussia Mönchengladbach,  Marc-André ter Stegen joined Barcelona in 2014. He won the treble in his first season in Spain, playing for Barcelona in Copa del Rey and UEFA Champions League while Claudio Bravo started in La Liga.  At the international level, he has earned 21 caps.  He was a backup at Euro 2016 and the World Cup in 2018.

RB: Dani Alves (Brazil)
Dani Alves spent 6 years with Sevilla, winning two UEFA Cup's before joining Barcelona in 2008.  Between 2006 and 2022, he played 126 times for Brazil, the third best ever.  In 2016, he joined Juventus, where he played a single season.   He appeared in his fourth Champions League final as Juventus were defeated 4–1 by Real Madrid. In 2017, he joined PSG.  later, he would play for Sao Paulo and UNAM in Mexico.

RB: Julio César Benítez (Uruguay)

Benítez began his football career at 16 in 1955 and played for various teams before joining FC Barcelona. He achieved success with Barcelona, winning the Copa del Generalísimo in 1964 and Inter Cities Fairs Cup in 1966. Tragically, he died days before a crucial match against Real Madrid. His funeral drew 150,000 FC Barcelona fans. The game was postponed but ended in a draw. Barcelona later won the cup final in his memory.

CB/DM: Javier Mascherano (Argentina)
Nicknamed "El Jefecito" ("The Little Chief"), he played for River Plate.  In 2005, he joined Corinthians along with Argentine compatriot, Carlos Tevez.  A year later, he moved to West Ham again with Tevez.  He later played for Liverpool and Barcelona.  He has made over 140 appearances for the Argentina national team, making him the second-most capped player in the country's history. He has represented the nation at five Copa América tournaments, and three World Cups.

Javier Mascherano 

CB:  Rafael Marquez (Mexico) 
Rafael Marquez is one of the best players in Mexico's history.  He started his career with Atlas before moving to play in Europe, notably with Monaco and Barcelona.  He was the first Mexican to win the European Champions' League. He is the first player ever to captain his national team in four consecutive World Cup Finals, captaining Mexico in the 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014. He had a total of 146 caps for Mexico between 1997 and 2018.  He won two Gold Cup in 2003 and 2011.

CB:  Ronald Koeman  (Netherlands)
Ronald Koeman was the rock solid sweeper of Holland's Euro1988 team.  He was capped 78 times. He also won two European Cups, one each for PSV Eindhoven and Barcelona FC.  He scored the winning goal for Barcelona's victory in 1992. The Cup was Barcelona FC's first ever European Cup.  In Holland, he played for all of the "big three" clubs, namely Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord.

CB/LB: Frank De Boer (Netherlands)
At one point, Frank De Boer was Holland's most capped player. He was a part of Ajax's Champions' League winning team in 1995.  He was an important player in the late 1990's. He captained the Oranje to the semi-finals of both the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000.  He also played with Barcelona for 6 years. His twin brother Ronald also played with him for Oranje.

LB/DM:  Giovanni Van Bronckhorst (Netherlands)
Giovanni Van Bronckhorst played for Holland in three World Cups, in 1998, 2006 and 2010, as well as three European Championships, in 2000, 2004 and 2008.  He was the captain of Holland at World Cup 2010, where Holland finished second.  He played 106 times for Holland.  At the club level, he also played with Feyenoord, Barcelona Arsenal and Rangers. 

Giovanni Van Bronckhorst

LB: Éric Abidal (France)
In his career, Abidal played mainly for Lyon and Barcelona, winning 21 major titles the two teams combined, including two Champions League trophies with the latter. His later career was marked by liver disease, resulting in a transplant. A French international across nine years, Abidal represented the nation in two World Cups – finishing second in 2006 – and Euro 2008.

CM: Ivan Rakitic (Croatia)
Born in Switzerland of Croatian background, Rakitic started his career with FC Basel. He played with Schalke 04 from 2007 and 2011.  Then, he moved to Sevilla in 2011.  At Sevilla, he won the Europa Cup in 2014.  He moved to Barcelona.  For Croatia, he earned 100 caps at the time of writing. He played in the midfield with Luka Modric as Croatia reached the Final of the 2018 World Cup Finals.

CM: Bernd Schuster (Germany)

Schuster was the star of West Germany's Euro 1980 winning team, but disagreed with the German Football Association and seldom played for West Germany after the tournament.  He started with FC Koln in 1978. He was a star at La Liga in the 1980's, playing for Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. He was the first player to have won the Spanish Cup for the big three in Spain. He later played for Bayer Leverkusen.

CM: Johan Neeskens (Netherlands)
Johan Neeskens was considered to be one of the greatest Dutch midfielders. He had 49 caps for Holland between 1970 and 1981.  Her led Holland to two second place finishes at the World Cup Finals in 1974 and 1978.  He was Holland's top scorer at the 1974 World Cup Finals.  At the club level, he also won three straight European Cups with Ajax: 1971, 1972, 1973. He also played with Barcelona FC and New York Cosmos.

Johan Neesken

AM/FW: Rivaldo (Brazil)
Rivaldo was a part of the attacking trio known as "Three R's" with Ronaldo and Ronaldinho at the 2002 World Cup Finals.  He scored 5 goals in 5 games as Brazil took its 5th World Cup. He also went to the World Cup Finals in 1998. He won the 1999 Ballon d' Or. He played for many clubs in his career.  He spent five years with Spanish club Barcelona.  He also played for many clubs in different countries.

RW: Luis Figo (Portugal)
Figo is one of Portugal's greatest players.  He was the 2000 European Footballer of the Year, the 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year., He is one of the few football players to have played for both Spanish rival clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid. His controversial 2000 transfer from Barcelona to Real Madrid set a world record fee of €62 million.  With Real Madrid, he was the first member of the Galacticos. He won the Champions' League title in 2002.

LW: Zoltan Czibor (Hungary)
Zoltan Czibor was widely considered to be one of the greatest left winger in history.  He was also a member of the Mighty Magyars of the 1950's.  After 1956. he fled to the West. He joined Ladislao Kubala and Sándor Kocsis to play for FC Barcelona. Together with Ramallets, Evaristo and Luis Suárez, they formed the great Barcelona team of the 1950's. He later played for Espanyol, t FC Basel, FK Austria Wien and Primo Hamilton FC.

LM: Ronaldinho (Brazil)
Ronaldinho was a member of tyhe "Three R's" with Rivaldo and Ronaldo that helped Brazil winning the World Cup in 2002.  He started his career with Gemio before moving to Europe. He played with Paris St Germaine and Barcelona before his form started to drop. He formed the REM line with Etoo and Messi before fighting among them destroyed the team. 

AM/FW: Michael Laudrup  (Denmark)
Michael Laudrup was the Golden Boy of the "Dynamite" Denmark at the 1986 World Cup Finals in Mexico.  He is regarded as Denmark's greatest offensive players.  He played 104 times for Denmark. In 1999, he was voted the Best Foreign Player in Spanish Football over the preceding 25-year period.  He won five straight La Liga titles 4 with Barcelona and then, one more with Real Madrid. He also played with Brondby, Lazio, Juventus, Kobe Vessels and Ajax.

FW: Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)
Johan Cruyff is the greatest Dutch player ever.  He won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974.  He was considered one of the best players in history.  He was noted for his brilliant performance at the World Cup in 1974.  He also won three straight European Cups with Ajax in the 1970's.  He moved to Barcelona in 1973 for a world record transfer fees, where he became a legend.  He also played in the NASL.

Johan Cruyff

ST:  Luis Suarez (Uruguay)
Luis Suarez both the 2013-2014 FWA and the PFA Player of the Year while playing for Liverpool in England.  He was also the European Golden Shoe winner that year. Unfortunately, he was known for biting an opponent at a few occasions.  With Barcelona, he was a part of the MSN line. For Uruguay, he helped them to win the Copa America in 2011 and controversially a 4th place finish at 2010 World Cup Finals. He played 138 times for Uruguay.

ST: Sandor Kocsis (Hungary)
Sandor Kocsis was a prolific goalscorer for the Mighty Magyars in the 1950's.   He scored 75 goals in 68 appearances for Hungary.  He scored 11 goals at the WC in 1954, the second highest for a single tournament.  He played for Honved at home before he went to play for Barcelona after the Soviet invasion in 1956.  With fellow Hungarian exiles Ladislao Kubala and Zoltan Czibor, Barcelona became a force in Europe.

FW: Laszlo Kubala (Slovakia/Hungary)
Born in Hungary of a multi-cultural background, Laszlo Kubala  was known as one of the greatest Barcelona players ever.  He still managed to win 4 Li Liga titles in the 1950's in an era dominated by Real Madrid.  In 1961, Barcelona eliminated Real Madrid from the European Cup, the first ever loss by Real Madrid at the tournament. He was capped by Hungry, Spain and Czechoslovakia. He was a guest player for Catalonia national football team.

 Laszlo Kubala

ST/FW: Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria)
Hristo Stoichkov is Bulgaria's greatest player. At the 1994 World Cup, Stoichkov was awarded the Golden Boot as the joint top goal scorer of the tournament with six goals, as well as earning the Bronze Ball award. Bulgaria reached the semifinal before losing to Italy. At Barcelona, he was part of Johan Cruyff's "dream team" that won four consecutive La Liga titles and one UEFA Champions League.  He also won the Ballon d'Or in 1994.

RW/FW:  Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Born and raised in central Argentina, Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency as a child. At age 13, he relocated to Spain to join Barcelona. Messi has won a record eight Ballon d'Or awards, a record six European Golden Shoes, and was named the world's best player for a record eight times by FIFA.  He holds the records for most goals in La Liga (474),For Argentina, he has played over 180 times. He helped them to win the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Lionel Messi

Honorable Mention

Samuel Umtiti (France), Gabriel Milito (Argentina), Ronald Araújo (Uruguay),  Juliano Belletti (Brazil), Gianluca Zambrotta (Italy), Michael Reiziger (Netherlands), Seydou Keita (Mali), Phillip Cocu (Netherlands), İlkay Gündoğan (Germany), Diego Maradona (Argentina), Neymar (Brazil), Deco (Portugal), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon), Evaristo (Brazil),  Allan Simonsen (Denmark), Patrick Kluivert (Netherlands), Hans Krankl (Austria), Steve Archibald (Scotland), Gary Lineker (England), Cayetano Ré (Paraguay) Hugo Sotil (Peru), Ronaldo (Brazil), Romario (Brazil), Robert Lewandowski (Poland).

Squad Explanation -
-- The original team was created in 2019, but I did an intensive review in April 2024.  

-- The greatest ever foreign players for Barcelona would be Ronaldinho, Johan Cruyff, Laszlo Kubala, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Hristo Stoichkov. They are automatic selections.  

-- Laszlo Kubala (Hungary/Slovakia), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria), Dani Alves (Brazil), Ronald Koeman (Holland), Johan Neeskens (Netherlands), Rivaldo (Brazil), Ronaldinho (Brazil) and Johan Cruyff (Netherlands) were on my All-time Team for Barcelona.

-- Johan Cruyff, Hristo Stoichkov, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Leo Messi all won the Ballon d'or over here.  

-- During the 1951-52 season, Barcelona emerged victorious in five competitions, earning them the moniker "Barça of the Five Cups" (Catalan: el Barça de les Cinc Copes). Throughout the 1950s, they continued their success by clinching the La Liga title on three occasions, capturing the Copa del Rey trophy five times, and conquering the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup once. I only took Laszlo Kubala from the "Five Cups" team. The other two Hungarians (Sandor Kocsis and Zoltan Czibor) on this team also played in the 1950's.

-- Since Johan Cruyff joined the club in 1973, Barcelona has been associated with Dutch players.  In addition to Cruyff, I only had Ruud Hesp, Giovanni Van Bronckhorst, Frank De Boer, Johan Neeskens and Ronald Koeman.  I also had three Brazilians and three more Hungarians. 

-- Lionel Messi spent 17 seasons on the first team winning 34 trophies.  His teammates on this team included Marc-André ter Stegen, Claudio Bravo, Dani Alves, Luis Suarez, Rafael Marquez, Éric Abidal, Ronaldinho, Giovanni Van Bronckhorst and Ivan Rakitic

-- The Bleacher Report came up with their All-Time Best XI for Barcelona in 2012.  The lineup was as following: Antoni Ramallets, Carlos Puyol, Ronald Koeman, Joan Segarra, Pep Guardiola, Xavi Johan Cruyff, Lionel Messi, Cesar Rodriguez.

-- Goal.com also had their own All-Time Best XI during the Champions' League era.  The lineup was as followed: Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Dani Alves, Carlos Puyol, Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Ronaldinho. 

Goalkeepers

-- Only 4 foreign goalkeepers earned significant playing time with Barcelona: Ruud Hesp, Vitor Baia, Claudio Bravo and Marc-André ter Stegen.  
-- I dropped Vitor Baia, despite the fact he had better international reputation than at least Hesp.  He spent two seasons with the club but was sidelined with a long injury on his second season.  In fact, Ruud Hesp took over the starting position from Vitor Baia during their career here. Ruud Hesp and Marc-André ter Stegen had longer spells than him in Barcelona.   The German has spent more than 10 seasons with the club while winning a Champions' League medal.

-- Claudio Bravo set a La Liga record for not conceding from the start of season for 754 minutes, previously held by Pedro María Artola with 560 minutes; the streak was broken when he conceded his first goal of the season from the penalty spot to Cristiano Ronaldo in a 1–3 defeat to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Defenders

-- Ronald Koeman and Dani Alves were the only foreigners on the defensive unit for my Barcelona All-Time Team.  So I had to create a new set of defenders for this team.

-- With the "Dream Team", Ronald Koeman won La Liga four years in a row from 1991 to 1994. He scored the only goal of the 1992 European Cup Final with a free kick against Sampdoria to give Barcelona their first ever European Cup.

-- Rafael Marquez (Mexico) spent 7 seasons in Barcelona.  He is one of the most-capped non-European players in the club's history.  He was an important player as Barcelona completed the "Sextuple" in 2009.  Frank De Boer spent 5 seasons with the club, but only winning a single title.  Nevertheless, his career over there was fair.  Javier Mascherano won the FC Barcelona Player of the Season (Trofeo Aldo Rovira) for the 2013–14 season.  Brcelona usually used him as a central defender.

-- Lillian Thuram played here at the end of his career. Fernando Couto, Thomas Vermaelen, Samuel Umtiti, Gheorghe Popescu and Laurent Blanc also never settled down in Barcelona. Gabriel Milito was mainly a bench player.  Ronald Araújo already surpassed them.

-- On the right, I locked down Dani Alves.  Julio César Benítez was known for his epic battle with Francisco Gento of Real Madrid.  His sudden death a few days before El Classico remained one of the saddest part of Barcelona FC's history.  He was well-liked and remembered by the fans. Juliano Belletti was mainly a bench player, but he did score a goal in the 2006 Champions' League Final against Arsenal. Gianluca Zambrotta only spent two seasons here.

Julio César Benítez

-- Éric Abidal (France) won the FC Barcelona Player of the Season (Trofeo Aldo Rovira) in 2012.  I also chose to take Giovanni van Bronckhorst over Michael Reiziger.  Known as "Gio" here, he had more impact here than Reiziger.  He was one of the key players as Barcelona won the 2004-2005 La Liga title. Frank De Boer and Phillip Cocu could also play as a leftback.  

Midfielders/Wingers

-- Seydou Keita was an integral part of Pep Guardiola's Barcelona, but he was mainly a bench player.  This team did not need him as Javier Mascherano and Rafael Marquez also played as defensive midfielders over here.  The position is well-covered.

-- Johan Neeskens was one of the greatest ever central midfielders in history, but in terms of trophies won, his career in Barcelona was relatively unsuccessful.  However, although his impact here was overshadowed by Johan Cruyff, his signing still changed the "DNA" of the team.  He also won the Don Balón Award.  

-- In 2019, I selected Phillip Cocu. He held one of the highest appearance record for a foreigner at the club, but after 2019, Ivan Rakitić's statistics were as good as Cocu.  Furthermore, he was named on La Liga Team of the Season in the 2018-2019 season. I replaced Cocu with Rakitic in 2024.

-- Bernd Schuster outshone Diego Maradona during their time together over here.  He finished third place in Ballon D'or in 1981 and 1985, largely for his performance in Barcelona.  He also came second in 1980, but it was for his performance with West Germany in Euro 1980.  The, I took Michael Laudrup who was a big star in Cruyff's "Dream Team". His departure to Real Madrid changed the balance of power in La Liga.  His first season in Madrid ended Barça's dominance in Spain and gave Real Madrid the league title. While Deco was a big name here, he could not be lay the same claim.  Maradona's name was up for discussion because he was simply Diego Maradona.  His club career was defined while playing for Napoli and Boca Juniors.  He did not do enough for Barcelona. Laudrup was a bigger player than Maradona. This team also had Ronaldinho who was the best player in the world when he was playing here. He won many individual awards. 

Ronaldinho

-- Luis Figo joined the team to fulfill the role of a right winger, addressing the team's specific need. Although his inclusion stirred controversy, his exceptional performance at Barcelona cannot be denied. He was never a serious consideration for my All-Time team because of his "deflection" to Madrid. For this foreigner only team, I overlooked the transfer move because the alternative choice for a right winger was limited.  Michael Laudrup also left Barcelona for Real Madrid.  Rivaldo and Messi also played as right wing-forwards.

-- In 2024, I added left winger Zoltán Czibor to the team.  In 2019, he was inexplicably neglected during the earlier selection process.  He scored some important goals for Barcelona FC in Europe.  Ronaldinho also played on the left side.  This side of the field was stocked.

Forwards

-- My Barcelona All-Time Team already included Johan Cruyff, Laszlo Kubala, Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and Hristo Stoichkov. In 2019, I still added Romario, Ronaldo, Luis Suarez Diaz and Sandor Kocsis to this team. Unfortunately, this influx of talented forwards created an imbalance that needed to be addressed. Consequently, in 2024, I decided to reduce the number of forwards by two so that I could add Julio César Benítez and Zoltán Czibor to the team.

-- Luis Suarez' Diaz's stats and numbers speak for himself. He has scored over 180 goals for the club.

-- Ronaldo scored 34 goals in 37 games for his only season with Barcelona. No one in Barcelona's history had a better season than he did in 1996-1997. He also won the Cup Winners' Cup here. In fact, that might be the greatest single season performance by any player in Europe. As comparison, Romario only scored 9 more goals than Ronaldo in his entire career in Barcelona. He formed a lethal partnership with Hristo Stoichkov, but he came the season after the 1992 Champions' League. He left the team in a controversial manner. So, I decided to drop both Ronaldo and Romario.

-- According to Barcelona's official website, Sandor Kocsis scored around 160 goals in 242 games here.  That number was much better than Romario and Ronaldo.

-- Samuel Eto'o deserved to be on this team.  For some fans, he was the best player not selected.  

-- Neymar's move to PSG finished his chance.  He did not do enough as compared to the others.  His career here was overshadowed by Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez Diaz.  If he stayed to build a stronger career, he might have gotten his credentials, but it would not happen now.

-- Hristo Stoichkov was runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 1992 and 1994, and received the Ballon d'Or in 1994. He also brought home Barcelona's first ever European Cup.

Hristo Stoichkov

-- Patrick Kluivert was not seriously considered as compared to the players I just mentioned, but he still earned honourable mention.  Cayetano Ré and Hugo Sotil were also big-timers at the club.

-- Paulino Alcántara (the Philippines/Spain) has represented both the Philippines and Spain. Normally, I would put the first country for oriundo players.  Alfredo Di Stéfano, José Santamaría and Héctor Rial had represented for Spain, but they were considered to be foreign players. However, Paulino Alcántara had played for Catalonia before he played for the Philippines.  So, I put him as a domestic player. He is not considered to be a foreign player.

-- Laszlo Kubala represented Spain late in his career, but no one really considered him as a Spaniard. So, I put him as a foreign player. 

Formation
Hesp was more steady while playing for Barcelona.