FC Barcelona

This article is about the men's football team. For the women's team, see FC Barcelona Femení. For the basketball team, see FC Barcelona Bàsquet. For the futsal team, see FC Barcelona Futsal. For other uses, see Barca (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Barcelona S.C. of Ecuador.

Barcelona
Full nameFutbol Club Barcelona
Nickname(s)Barça or Blaugrana (team)
Culers or Barcelonistes (supporters)
Blaugranes or Azulgranas (supporters)
Founded29 November 1899; 124 years ago (1899-11-29) (as Foot-Ball Club Barcelona)
StadiumEstadi Olímpic Lluís Companys
Capacity54,367[1]
PresidentJoan Laporta
Head coachHansi Flick
LeagueLa Liga
2023–24La Liga, 2nd of 20
Websitefcbarcelona.com
Current season
Active departments of FC Barcelona
Football
(Men's)		 Football B
(Men's)		 Football U-19
(Men's)		 Football
(Women's)
Football B
(Women's)		 Football C
(Women's)		 Futsal Esports
Basketball Basketball B Wheelchair
basketball		 Handball
Handball B Ice
hockey		 Roller
hockey		 Field hockey
Volleyball
(Men's)		 Volleyball
(Women's)		 Rugby
union		 Rugby
league
Closed departments of FC Barcelona
Football C
(Men's)		 American football
Baseball Beach
soccer

Futbol Club Barcelona (Catalan pronunciation: [fubˈbɔl ˈklub bəɾsəˈlonə] ⓘ), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça ([ˈbaɾsə]), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football.

Founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, Catalan, German, and English footballers led by Joan Gamper, the club has become a symbol of Catalan culture and Catalanism, hence the motto "Més que un club" ("More than a club").[2] Unlike many other football clubs, the supporters own and operate Barcelona. It is the third-most valuable football club in the world, worth $5.6 billion, and the world's fourth richest football club in terms of revenue, with an annual turnover of €800.1 million.[3][4] The official Barcelona anthem is the "Cant del Barça", written by Jaume Picas and Josep Maria Espinàs.[5] Barcelona traditionally play in dark shades of blue and garnet stripes, hence nicknamed Blaugrana.

Domestically, Barcelona has won a record 77 trophies: 27 La Liga, 31 Copa del Rey, 14 Supercopa de España, three Copa Eva Duarte, and two Copa de la Liga titles, as well as being the record holder for the latter four competitions. In international club football, the club has won 22 European and worldwide titles: five UEFA Champions League titles, a record four UEFA Cup Winners' Cups, five UEFA Super Cups, a record three Inter-Cities Fairs Cups, a joint record two Latin Cups, and three FIFA Club World Cups.[6][7][8] Barcelona was ranked first in the International Federation of Football History & Statistics Club World Ranking for 1997, 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2015, and occupies the ninth position on the UEFA club rankings as of May 2023.[9][10][11] The club has a long-standing rivalry with Real Madrid, and matches between the two teams are referred to as El Clásico.

Barcelona is one of the most widely supported teams in the world, and the club has one of the largest social media following in the world among sports teams.[12][13] Barcelona players have won a joint record twelve Ballon d'Or awards, with recipients including Johan Cruyff, as well as a record six FIFA World Player of the Year awards, with winners including Romário, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi. In 2010, three players who came through the club's youth academy—Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Xavi—were chosen as the three best players in the world in the Ballon d'Or ranking, an unprecedented feat for players from the same football academy.[14][15] Additionally, players representing the club have won a record eight European Golden Shoe awards.[16]

Barcelona is one of three founding members of the Primera División that have never been relegated from the top division since its inception in 1929, along with Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid.[17][18] In 2009, Barcelona became the first Spanish club to win the continental treble consisting of La Liga, Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League, and also became the first European football club to win six out of six competitions in a single year, by also winning the Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.[19] In 2011, the club became European champions again, winning five trophies.[20] This Barcelona team, which won fourteen trophies in just four years under Pep Guardiola, is considered by some in the sport to be the greatest team of all time.[21][22][23] By winning their fifth Champions League trophy in 2015 under Luis Enrique, Barcelona became the first European football club in history to achieve the continental treble twice.[24]

  1. ^ "Barcelona find new home at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys". FIFA. 17 August 2023. Archived from the original on 24 September 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  2. ^ "Més que un club: UNA DIVISA HISTÒRICA". FC Barcelona (in Catalan). Archived from the original on 10 January 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  3. ^ Ozanian, Mike; Teitelbaum, Justin (23 May 2024). "The World's Most Valuable Soccer Teams 2024". Forbes. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  4. ^ "Deloitte Football Money League 2024". Deloitte. February 2024. Archived from the original on 20 January 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  5. ^ "The history of the Barça anthems". FC Barcelona. Archived from the original on 3 October 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  6. ^ "Football Europe: FC Barcelona". UEFA. Archived from the original on 3 June 2010. Retrieved 4 May 2009.
  7. ^ "Classic Football: Clubs: FC Barcelona". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original on 29 April 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  8. ^ Rimet, Pierre (4 January 1951). Rodrigues Filho, Mário (ed.). "Cartas de Paris - Das pirâmides do Egito ao colosso do Maracanã, com o Sr. Jules Rimet" [Letters from Paris - From the pyramids of Egypt to the colossus of Maracanã, with Mr. Jules Rimet]. Jornal dos Sports (in Portuguese). No. 6554. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. p. 5. Archived from the original on 6 June 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2017. A Taça Latina é uma competição criada pela F. I. F. A. a pedido dos quatro países que a disputam atualmente. Mas o Regulamento é feito por uma Comissão composta por membros das Federações concorrentes e de fato a F. I. F. A. não participa ativamente na organização
  9. ^ "Former Results". International Federation of Football History & Statistics. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  10. ^ "Club World Ranking 2015". International Federation of Football History & Statistics. Archived from the original on 11 August 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  11. ^ "UEFA Club Coefficients". UEFA. Archived from the original on 20 March 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  12. ^ "Barça, the most loved club in the world" Archived 14 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Marca. Madrid. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  13. ^ "Barcelona wins Social Star Award for 'Most Popular Sports Team'". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013.
  14. ^ "10 years since a unique Ballon d'Or podium". FC Barcelona. 6 December 2020. Archived from the original on 26 April 2023.
  15. ^ Batalla, Jordi (10 January 2021). "10 años del histórico podio de La Masia en el Balón de Oro". Mundo Deportivo (in European Spanish). Archived from the original on 19 October 2021.
  16. ^ Sans, Gabriel (9 November 2022). "All the Barça stars that have won the Golden Boot". Mundo Deportivo. Archived from the original on 3 August 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  17. ^ Nardelli, Alberto (2 June 2015). "Which European football clubs have never been relegated?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 November 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  18. ^ Candil, Jaime (12 May 2018). "19 European clubs never to have been relegated from top flight". AS. Archived from the original on 17 September 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  19. ^ "FC Barcelona Records". FC Barcelona. 12 January 2012. Archived from the original on 10 January 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  20. ^ "2011: El año en el que el Barcelona de Guardiola se hizo aún más grande". Cadena SER (in European Spanish). 24 December 2011. Archived from the original on 26 May 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  21. ^ "Is this Barcelona team the best of all time?". CNN. 23 December 2011. Archived from the original on 30 October 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  22. ^ "The great European Cup teams: Barcelona 2009–2011". The Guardian. London. 25 October 2015. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  23. ^ "Who's the Greatest of Them All? Barcelona!". Newsweek. 25 October 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  24. ^ "Un Barça de récord, el primero en lograr dos tripletes en Europa". La Vanguardia (in European Spanish). 6 June 2015. Archived from the original on 26 May 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2023.