Joan Gamper Trophy 2023: Everything you need to know about Barcelona’s traditional curtain raiser

  • 2023 opponents revealed
  • Exhibition held by Barcelona since 1966
  • Barça have incredible record in match
Barcelona have a supreme record in the Joan Gamper Trophy
Barcelona have a supreme record in the Joan Gamper Trophy / Eric Alonso/GettyImages
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While it's far from a ubiquitous tradition, some clubs across Europe enjoy setting the stage for the upcoming campaign by hosting some sort of curtain-raiser ahead of the new season.

Arsenal's Emirates Cup has developed into an esteemed friendly contest since its establishment, but there isn't an exhibition bout with as much history as Barcelona's Joan Gamper Trophy.

La Blaugrana will play host to its 58th iteration of the contest in August 2023, with this year's opponents recently being revealed.

Here's everything you need to know about the Joan Gamper Trophy.


What is the Joan Gamper Trophy?

Barcelona's president Joan Laporta (L) c
Barca have an excellent record in the Gamper Trophy / LLUIS GENE/GettyImages

The Joan Gamper Trophy is an exhibition match hosted annually in August by Barcelona at Camp Nou before the start of the new season.

Teams from across the globe have been invited to compete in the match since its inception, with the game being named in honour of Joan Gamper; th Swiss-born legend who was a founding member, player, and president of Barcelona.


When was the first Joan Gamper Trophy?

The exhibition bout was inaugurated by Enric Llaudet, club president between 1961 and 1968, in 1966. For the first 30 years, four teams competed in the Joan Gamper Trophy with two semi-finals and a final deciding the victor.

In the first edition of the mini-tournament, Barcelona were joined by Anderlecht, Nantes, and FC Koln. The Spaniards defeated FC Koln in the final 3-1 - the first of their 45 Gamper Trophy triumphs.

Since 1997, the Trophy has been a one-off game, with penalties deciding the winner should things end in a draw after 90 minutes. The original Men's Gamper Trophy has also been complemented by a Women's Gamper Trophy since 2021.


Who will play Barcelona in the 2023 Joan Gamper Trophy?

Ange Postecoglou
Barcelona will face Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham in the 2023 Joan Gamper Trophy / Ryan Pierse/GettyImages

For the first time ever, the Joan Gamper Trophy will not be played at Camp Nou. Instead, Barcelona will likely host this year's opponents, reported to be Tottenham, on 9 August at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys - their temporary home ground for 2023/24 in the Montjuic neighbourhood.

However, Barça have are reported to have also looked into hosting the exhibition bout in Gamper's homeland, Switzerland.

Nevertheless, it's believed that the loser of the upcoming Gamper Trophy between Spurs and Barcelona will have to retain the services of Clement Lenglet. There's so much at stake...


Joan Gamper Trophy results

Here are all the Joan Gamper Trophy results since it became a standalone game in 1997.

Year

Result

1997

Barcelona 2-2 Sampdoria (Barça won on penalties)

1998

Barcelona 2-2 Santos (Barça won on penalties)

1999

Barcelona 3-1 Sporting CP

2000

Barcelona 2-1 PSV

2001

Barcelona 3-2 Parma

2002

Barcelona 1-0 Red Star Belgrade

2003

Barcelona 1-1 Boca Juniors (Barça won on penalties)

2004

Barcelona 2-1 Milan

2005

Juventus 2-2 Barcelona (Juve won on penalties)

2006

Barcelona 4-0 Bayern Munich

2007

Barcelona 5-0 Inter

2008

Barcelona 2-1 Boca Juniors

2009

Man City 1-0 Barcelona

2010

Barcelona 1-1 Milan (Barça won on penalties)

2011

Barcelona 5-0 Napoli

2012

Sampdoria 1-0 Barcelona

2013

Barcelona 8-0 Santos

2014

Barcelona 6-0 Leon

2015

Barcelona 3-0 AS Roma

2016

Barcelona 3-2 Sampdoria

2017

Barcelona 5-0 Chapecoense

2018

Barcelona 3-0 Boca Juniors

2019

Barcelona 2-1 Arsenal

2020

Barcelona 1-0 Elche

2021

Barcelona 3-0 Juventus

2022

Barcelona 6-0 UNAM


Joan Gamper Trophy winners

Club

Wins

Barcelona

45

FC Koln

2

Sampdoria

1

Juventus

1

Man City

1

Borussia Monchengladbach

1

Internacional

1

Ujpest

1

Mechelen

1

Porto

1

Tenerife

1

Valencia

1


Joan Gamper Trophy leading goalscorers

Rank

Player

Club

Goals scored

1.

Lionel Messi

Barcelona

9

2=

Juan Manuel Asensi

Barcelona

7

2=

Txiki Begiristain

Barcelona

7

2=

Hristo Stoichkov

Barcelona

7

5=

Josep Maria Fusté

Barcelona

6

5=

Marcial Pina

Barcelona

6


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