FC Barcelona will play their Joan Gamper Cup game at their renovated Spotify Camp Nou stadium on August 10 with a reduced capacity of approximately 30,000 fans against a yet to be confirmed opponent.
As the 2025-26 season progresses, the Catalan club anticipates expanding their stadium capacity but claim that the first game full capacity (104,000 spectators) will also serve as a tribute to Leo Messi, who left the club in August 2021 without receiving the send off his 18 years as a Barça player warranted.
No other player in the club’s history has pulled on the azulgrana shirt and Messi is arguably the most important player in the club’s illustrious history.
The planned date for the full opening of the Spotify Camp Nou is the summer of 2026.
Both sides still need to iron out the finer details with current relationships between Messi and Joan Laporta still frosty after the club president turned down a return request in the spring of 2023, with the Rosario born striker ultimately moving to Inter Miami.