Dani Olmo: ‘Winning the World Cup changes you, it changes your life’
Barcelona and Spain midfielder Dani Olmo has spoken about the lasting impact of winning the World Cup with Spain in July 2026, describing how the achievement continues to resonate personally and how it might inspire Barcelona's Champions League campaign. Eight of Spain's 26-man World Cup squad play for Barcelona, and Olmo believes the winning mentality and cohesion built with the national team can help the club end an 11-year wait for European success, a drought stretching back to their last Champions League triumph in 2015.
Olmo recalled the emotional moments after Spain's final victory over Argentina in New Jersey on 19 July, and described being greeted by Barcelona coach Hansi Flick as a "champion of the world" upon returning to training. He reflected on his own journey, having left Barcelona's academy at 16 to join Dynamo Zagreb before returning via RB Leipzig in 2024, since when he has won a domestic treble and a league title with the club, though European campaigns ended in defeat to Inter Milan and Atlético Madrid. Barcelona begin their new Champions League campaign against Feyenoord at Camp Nou, with the final scheduled for 5 June in Madrid.
- Dani Olmo reflects on Spain's World Cup win and its lasting effect
- Eight Barcelona players were part of Spain's winning squad
- Barcelona seek first Champions League title since 2015, starting v Feyenoord
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Dani Olmo is a Spanish midfielder who plays for Barcelona and was part of the Spain squad that won the World Cup in July 2026, beating Argentina in the final in New Jersey. That tournament win is seen as a defining moment for the players involved, and several of them, including Olmo, also play club football together at Barcelona.
Barcelona have not won the Champions League, European club football's top prize, since 2015, despite having reached the latter stages in recent seasons only to lose to sides such as Inter Milan and Atlético Madrid. Eight of Spain's World Cup-winning squad are Barcelona players, which is why there is talk of the squad's shared success with the national team feeding into the club's ambitions this season under coach Hansi Flick.
Olmo himself has an unusual path to this point: he left Barcelona's youth academy at 16 to play in Croatia and Germany before returning to the Catalan club in 2024. Since rejoining, he has won domestic trophies with Barcelona but not yet European ones, which forms the backdrop to his comments about what winning the World Cup meant to him and what it might mean for his club going forward.