Barça unleashes madness in Korea: there will be a packed house vs FC Seoul

Published:12/06/2025 - 07:18h

Updated:12/06/2025 - 07:19h

Barça will face Seoul FC on July 31 in the South Korean capital. The match is generating a lot of expectation in the Asian country, including a novel promotional campaign

FC Barcelona has reactivated the madness for football in South Korea. The team led by Hansi Flick will play two friendlies as part of their Asian tour in two of the 2002 World Cup venues, Seoul and Daegu, against the local clubs of both cities.

For the first match, scheduled for Thursday, July 31 at 8:00 p.m. local time (2:00 p.m. in Catalonia) in the South Korean capital, the most famous fast food chain in the Asian country has launched a novel marketing campaign to promote the match.

The match against FC Seoul will take place at the Seoul World Cup Stadium in front of 64,000 spectators. Almost half of the tickets (30,000) will be raffled through a very particular promotion.

The marketing strategy that strengthens Barça's popularity in Korea

According to 'MARCA', the fast food franchise 'bb.q Chicken', whose presence in the country exceeds the American giant McDonalds, will distribute 30,000 tickets among its and customers.

How will the tickets be raffled? Through the so-called 'Golden Ticket Festa', which allows participation with each purchase of fried chicken (the franchise's specialty) or by inviting friends to eat at any of the restaurants.

The owner of the franchise, Genesis BBQ Group, has invested 10 billion won (around 6.3 million euros) in the campaign, as part of the celebrations for the group's 50th anniversary.

The match will be a national event, as Barça will visit South Korea for the first time in 15 years. The match in Seoul is called '2025 FC Barcelona Asia Tour Seoul Match' and bb.q Chicken is its main sponsor. With this, the 'culés' will play their second match of the pre-season Asian tour at a full house.

Barça's matches on their 2025 pre-season Asian tour

The Asian tour kicks off with the trip to Japan on July 24. Three days later, the 'azulgrana' team will face Vissel Kobe, Andrés Iniesta's former team, in a charity match. Before the end of the month, the team will travel to South Korea to play two more friendlies.

The first will be the aforementioned match against Seoul, on July 31. Five days later, Hansi Flick's team will close the pre-season facing Daegu FC on August 4. In total, it is estimated that the tour will leave about 15 million euros in the 'culé' coffers.

After returning to Catalonia, Barça must play the 2025 Joan Gamper Trophy, probably on Saturday, August 9 or Sunday, August 10 against Cesc Fàbregas' Como. The match will be a pilot test for the reopening of the Spotify Camp Nou, with a partial capacity of 25,000 spectators. The Estadi will reopen at the end of September, for the fifth matchday of the League.