Barcelona’s Hamza Abdelkarim remains a reserve-team player despite La Liga listing

Hamza Abdelkarim has appeared on La Liga’s official website for the first time, but the Barcelona forward has not been registered as a first-team player, FilGoal.com has confirmed.

The 29-year-old shirt number worn by Abdelkarim is the key indication of his current status. A review of the Spanish Football Federation’s competition regulations found that he remains registered with Barcelona Atletic, rather than with Barcelona’s senior squad.

Players registered for the first team in La Liga are assigned shirt numbers from one to 25, under Article 28 of the competition regulations. Reserve-team players, meanwhile, are given numbers starting from 26. They retain those numbers throughout the season unless they are formally registered with the first team, at which point their number changes to one between one and 25.

Abdelkarim is therefore listed with Barcelona because he has been promoted from the reserve side, not because he has completed a first-team registration. He is wearing number 29 this season.

The same process applies to other Barcelona players who have been moved up from the reserve squad. Brian Farinas has been allocated number 28, Jordi Bisquerra number 33 and Alvaro Cortes number 26, and all three have also appeared on La Liga’s website.

Xavi Espart, however, has been promoted from the reserve team and given the number 12 shirt, indicating that he has been registered in Barcelona’s first-team squad.

Abdelkarim was named on the bench for Barcelona’s opening match of the new La Liga season, against Elche. He did not play as Barcelona secured a 5-0 victory.

The 19-year-old will now hope for another opportunity when Barcelona face Athletic Club on Thursday evening. The fixture is a rearranged match from the opening round of the league season.

Barcelona’s game, along with Real Madrid’s and Atletico de Madrid’s matches, was postponed because of the involvement of their players in the World Cup. The postponements were also intended to allow those players a longer period of rest, in line with the competition regulations.

For now, Abdelkarim’s listing on the La Liga website confirms his connection with Barcelona’s first-team matchday group, but not a change in his official registration. His continued use of number 29 shows that he remains a reserve-team player under the rules governing squad numbers in Spain’s top flight.