[6] Born in La Pobla de Segur, Lleida, Catalonia,[7] Puyol started playing football for his hometown club as a goalkeeper, but after injury problems with his shoulder, he became a forward.

[9] In 1998, Barcelona accepted an offer from Málaga to sell Puyol, who was behind Frank de Boer and Michael Reiziger in the pecking order.

[10] Louis van Gaal promoted Puyol to the first team the following year, and he made his La Liga debut on 2 October 1999 in a 2–0 away win against Real Valladolid.

In 2005–06 he appeared in a total of 52 games, including 12 in that season's UEFA Champions League which ended in victory against Arsenal, the club's second European Cup.

[22] After the defeat to Inter Milan in the 2009–10 Champions League semi-final, Puyol played in 56 matches for Barcelona without losing, a run that only ended on 11 January 2012 at Osasuna (2–3 loss).

[30] On 2 March 2014, Puyol surpassed Migueli to go second in Barça's all-time league appearances table, behind only Xavi, and scored the third goal in a 4–1 home win against Almería.

At a packed Auditori 1899, his teammates, ex-teammates, presidents and coaches paid tribute to him, and he said "I’ve lived the dream of so many young kids, doing what I most enjoy in life, playing football and training".

[44] He started in three out of five matches at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, and acted as captain when Iker Casillas was rested for the last group stage fixture;[45] they finished third, and he was included in the Team of the Tournament with four of his teammates.

[47] He scored the only goal in the semi-final with Germany, a powerful header from a corner taken by Barcelona teammate Xavi, which sent the national team through to their first World Cup final.

[49] Spain only conceded two goals throughout the tournament – none of which came in the knock-out stages – also keeping five clean sheets, a record for a World Cup-winning team, shared with the 2006 Italy side and 1998 champions France.

[52] He missed Spain's victorious Euro 2012 campaign due to a knee injury sustained in a league game against Espanyol in early May, which required surgery and five to six weeks' recuperation.

[62][63] Described as a "no–nonsense" player,[61] Puyol was known for his commanding presence in the air despite his modest stature, as well as his ability to read the game, and his intense commitment and ruggedness as a defender, in particular when challenging for the ball.

[10][59][64][65] In 2006, Simon Talbot of The Guardian described Puyol as: "Barcelona's very own Captain Caveman, playing football with his heart on his sleeve and his hair in his eyes, throwing himself about the pitch and launching wholeheartedly into kamikaze tackles like a hyperactive, lunatic kid.

"[10] Although his positioning, leadership and ability to organise his defence were initially cited as weaknesses early on in his career, he worked to improve on these aspects of his game throughout his time with Barcelona.

[10] A physical yet fair player, he was also known for his anticipation, strength, aggression, determination, discipline, intelligence and concentration as a defender, as well as his man-marking skills and ability to organise his defence; he also excelled in one on one situations.

[63][74][75][76][77] As such, throughout his career, he was often deployed alongside a ball-playing centre-back such as Piqué; together, they formed an effective central-defensive partnership, both with Barcelona and Spain, with the former's physical defending complementing the latter's more elegant playing style.

[68][82] This became particularly noticeable in his later career, when he was usually deployed in the centre, in part due to a series of recurring knee injuries, which limited his playing time and affected his physical condition, eventually forcing him to retire prematurely.

"[8] Puyol's father, Josep, died in a farming accident in late 2006 while Carles was on his way to play a match against Deportivo de La Coruña.

[90] He said that this, combined with an injury led to a dark period, with Spain national team physio Raúl Martínez eventually coming to Barcelona: in the player's words, "...[he] gave me a great telling off.

In October of that year, he scored through a header in a 2–1 home win against Valencia CF and dedicated the goal to her by making a heart symbol with both hands.

[95][96] Puyol was invited by Iranian television channel IRIB TV3 to provide commentary on the 2018 FIFA World Cup match between Iran and Spain on 20 June in a programme hosted by Adel Ferdosipour but was not allowed in the studio.