Hamza Abdelkarim’s Barcelona registration does not guarantee Champions League eligibility

Egyptian forward Hamza Abdelkarim has appeared on the official La Liga website as a Barcelona player, but the registration does not mean he has been promoted to the club’s full first-team squad or secured a place in the Champions League list.

Reports had suggested that Abdelkarim had been moved from Barcelona’s reserve squad to the senior team, prompting speculation that he could feature regularly under German manager Hansi Flick. His name did appear on La Liga’s website, strengthening those claims and suggesting that the change could make it easier for him to be included in Barcelona’s European squad.

However, closer examination of the registration details shows that the situation is more limited.

Abdelkarim has been registered wearing shirt number 29. Under La Liga regulations, first-team players must be assigned squad numbers from 1 to 25. Reserve-team players linked to the senior squad can instead be registered with numbers between 26 and 50.

His listing therefore indicates that he is part of a reserve category connected to Barcelona’s first team, rather than the club’s official senior squad. It is an important step, but it does not represent definitive registration in the main first-team list.

Barcelona’s official first-team squad page also remains without the Egyptian striker’s name, providing further evidence that he has not yet been added to the senior squad’s principal list.

That position could change in the final days of the summer transfer window. Barcelona may formally promote Abdelkarim to the first-team squad after the window closes, particularly if the club fails to sign another forward before the end of the transfer period.

There is no requirement for Barcelona to make that change, though. Abdelkarim could remain in the reserve category and still be used by the first team in accordance with competition rules.

The final decision is expected to become clear after the Spanish transfer window closes on 1 September. If Barcelona formally promotes him, his shirt number would have to be changed to one between 1 and 25. Otherwise, he would continue to operate under his current registration.

The question of his potential involvement in the Champions League depends directly on which squad he occupies domestically and how Barcelona registers him with UEFA.

If Abdelkarim is included in Barcelona’s main first-team squad and then named in the club’s Champions League squad in line with UEFA regulations, there would be no fundamental obstacle to him playing in the competition, provided he meets all other registration and eligibility requirements.

His route would be more complicated if he remains in the reserve category. UEFA rules allow a club to include eight reserve-team players in its main ‘A’ list, but those players must have been with the club, or with another club in the same national association, for at least three seasons. Abdelkarim does not currently meet that requirement.

The alternative ‘B’ list also appears unavailable to him at present, despite having no limit on the number of players who can be included. A player can qualify for that list if they have been continuously eligible to play for the club for two years after turning 15, or for a total of three years. Only one loan spell, lasting no more than one year and involving a club from the same association, is permitted under the regulations.

Abdelkarim joined Barcelona in January, meaning he has not yet completed the required period to benefit from the ‘B’ list exemption.

His European prospects will therefore depend largely on Barcelona’s decision over its senior squad. Promotion to the main list could allow the club to register him for the Champions League, while remaining in the reserve category without meeting the ‘B’ list criteria would leave him ineligible to play in Europe this season.

The Spanish transfer window closes on 1 September, with the deadline for submitting European squads to UEFA falling on 2 September. Only once both lists have been finalised will the position of Hamza Abdelkarim become clear.