Barcelona confirm Vissel Kobe match in Japan, announce squad for tour

Barcelona have confirmed that they will indeed travel to Japan, and play against Vissel Kobe. Initially they had cancelled the trip, but now travel a day later to Kobe, after they received guarantees of payment for the friendly match.

The Catalan club had announced that the trip was cancelled, with promoter D-Drive accusing subcontractor Yasuda of fraud and non-payment. Vice-President Rafa Yuste had also claimed that Barcelona had been disrespected. Yet it appears that ticket distributor Rakuten have stepped in to front the missing fee, and the game will go ahead.

Barcelona confirm trip to Japan

After 36 hours of uncertainty, Barcelona have announced that they are already on the flight to Japan. Their preseason game against Vissel Kobe, scheduled for 12:00 CEST, is now on schedule to take place, and the Blaugrana will then travel on to Seoul in South Korea to complete their three-game tour against FC Seoul and Daegu FC.

Barcelona leave senior players out of squad for preseason tour

Their squad for the preseason tour has also been confirmed with three absences from the senior side. Inaki Pena has made it, but Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who has confirmed he will have surgery, will not travel with the side. Meanwhile Oriol Romeu and Pau Victor have been left behind to resolve their futures, with Victor finalising a move to Portugal.

Official: The squad for the Asia tour. @FCBarcelona pic.twitter.com/kyfFqodOtO

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) July 25, 2025

Six youth players Diego Kochen, Jofre Torrents, Guille Fernandez, Dro Fernandez, Toni Fernandez and new signing Roony Bardghji have all made the squad, and new signings Joan Garcia and Marcus Rashford will pull on the Barcelona shirt for the first time.

Full Barcelona squad for preseason tour:

Goalkeepers: Joan Garcia, Wojciech Szczesny, Inaki Pena, Diego Kochen.

Defenders: Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde, Ronald Araujo, Inigo Martinez, Andreas Christensen, Jules Kounde, Eric Garcia, Hector Fort, Gerard Martin, Jofre Torrents.

Midfielders: Gavi, Pedri, Fermin Lopez, Marc Casado, Dani Olmo, Frenkie de Jong, Marc Bernal, Guille Fernandez, Dro Fernandez

Forwards: Ferran Torres, Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Marcus Rashford, Toni Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.