Barcelona will travel to Switzerland to face Basel in a friendly on Sunday, 16 August, as part of their preparations for the 2026-27 season.
The match will begin at 16:30 CEST at St. Jakob-Park, one of Switzerland’s most prominent football stadiums, according to the club’s official website.
It will be the third fixture of Barcelona’s pre-season campaign. The Catalan club will first play Birmingham City before taking part in a three-team tournament in Udine involving Nottingham Forest and Udinese.
The meeting with Basel is scheduled to be Barcelona’s final preparation match before the competitive season begins. Their last pre-season occasion will be the Joan Gamper Trophy against Egyptian club Al Ahly, a fixture that will also include the official presentation of the squad to supporters at Barcelona’s home stadium.
Previous meetings
Barcelona and Basel have met twice in official competition, with both games coming in the group stage of the 2008-09 Champions League.
Barcelona recorded a convincing 5-0 victory at St. Jakob-Park. Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Bojan Krkic, who scored twice, and Xavi Hernandez were on the scoresheet.
The return match at Camp Nou ended in a 1-1 draw, with Messi scoring for Barcelona again.
The two clubs had also been drawn together before those Champions League encounters in the Fairs Cup during the 1958-60 season. On that occasion, Barcelona won both matches against a team representing the city of Basel.
Barcelona triumphed 2-1 away from home before completing the tie with a 5-2 victory in the return fixture.
A stadium with a special place in Barcelona history
Basel holds a significant place in Barcelona’s history because the city hosted the 1979 European Cup Winners’ Cup final.
On 16 May that year, Barcelona defeated Fortuna Dusseldorf 4-3 after an unforgettable match that went into extra time. The victory secured the club’s first major European trophy.
The final was also notable for the scale of the support Barcelona received. About 30,000 of the club’s supporters travelled to Switzerland to back the team, marking the first major overseas journey by Barcelona fans to attend a European final.
More than four decades later, Barcelona will return to Basel, a city permanently linked with one of the most memorable chapters in the club’s history. Their upcoming visit will combine a significant historical setting with an important test in Hansi Flick’s preparations for the new campaign.
