Birmingham City and Barcelona have confirmed their starting teams for their friendly at St Andrew’s on Friday.
Barca have travelled without their World Cup stars, including Spain players and newly-crowned world champions Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres, Joan Garcia, Eric Garcia, Pau Cubarsi, Gavi, Dani Olmo and Pedri.
Part-owned by NFL legend Tom Brady, Birmingham have made a host of new signings to strengthen their promotion ambitions in the English second tier.
Here are the line-ups as the sides build towards the 2026/27 season in La Liga and the Championship, plus full details on how to watch the action live.
Matchday at St. George’s Park! 🏴 pic.twitter.com/Vfk9XgWjaj
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) July 31, 2026
Birmingham confirmed starting team vs Barcelona
Midfielder Jhon Solis, who joined Birmingham permanently from Girona for £6 million in June, starts for the hosts.
Centre-back Dael Fry arrived from Middlesbrough a month earlier and is on the bench. Goalkeeper James Beadle has again joined on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion for the campaign.
Argentinian striker Luis Vazquez signed from Anderlecht this week, as did Denmark-born former USA international full-back Kristoffer Lund from Palermo. Vazquez is on the bench.
Birmingham starting XI: James Beadle, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Phil Neumann, Christoph Klarer, Alex Cochrane, Tomoki Iwata, Jhon Solis, Carlos Vicente, Kanya Fujimoto, Jay Stansfield, August Priske
Substitutes: Ryan Allsop, Ethan Laird, Lee Buchanan, Jack Robinson, Scott Wright, Patrick Roberts, Dael Fry, Menzi Mazwi, William Burrell, Bradley Mayo, Cobi Maddox, Luis Vazquez, Briar Bateman
Barcelona full line up vs Birmingham City
Karim Adeyemi – an £18.8m signing from Borussia Dortmund last week – starts for Barcelona.
Alejandro Balde is on the bench as the left-back continues his injury comeback and winger Raphinha has taken part in individual sessions this week following an injury-hit 2025/26 and World Cup with Brazil.
Frenkie de Jong is not involved but has travelled with Barcelona and worked in the gym as the midfielder continues his recovery from a serious knee injury.
Barcelona starting XI: Wojciech Szczesny, Xavi Espart, Andreas Christensen, Gerard Martin, Jofre Torrents, Marc Casado, Ebrima Tunkara, Marc Bernal, Karim Adeyemi, Hamza Abdelkarim, Shane Kluivert
Barcelona substitutes: Hector Fort, Alejandro Balde, Ronald Araujo, Alvaro Cortes, Guille Fernandez, Brian Farinas, Tommy Marques, Raphinha, Roony Bardghji, Toni Fernandez, Fermin Lopez, Jordi Pesquer, Iker Rodriguez, Ibrahim Diarra, Oscar Gistau, Orian Goren, Aron Yaakobishvili, Alex Gonzalez
Where to watch Birmingham vs Barcelona: TV and online streams
Kick-off on Friday is at 19:45 BST (14:45 ET / 11:45 PT). In the UK, live coverage is on Blues+, which charges £8.99 for a Match Pass.
Barcelona’s official channel is also showing the match in some territories outside of the UK. For full details, visit Barca Play.
Birmingham City vs Barcelona stats
- While Barcelona won La Liga last season, Birmingham finished 10th in the Championship and were nine points off the last place for a play-off campaign to reach the Premier League
- Barcelona were previously based at St George’s Park in 2014 – before winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League – and in 2016
- Their last visit to an English club was a 1-1 draw against Newcastle at St James’ Park in the Champions League last 16 last season, winning the return match 7-2
- The Spanish side’s record against English clubs in competitive fixtures is W38 D23 L21
- Since a 1-0 win at Manchester United in the Champions League in 2019, Barcelona have won win in five competitive matches in England
- That victory came at Newcastle in September 2025, when England international Marcus Rashford scored twice and current Barcelona winger Anthony Gordon replied for the Magpies
- Birmingham are winless in four meetings with Barcelona, with all five previous matches between the sides taking place in the now-defunct Fairs Cup between 1957 and 1960
- Their win was at home in the first of those matches, prevailing 4-3 in October 1957 before losing the return match 1-0 at the Camp Nou the following month
- The tie therefore went to a one-legged replay in Basel, which Barcelona won 2-1
- Only promoted Coventry City and Ipswich Town bettered Birmingham’s total of 44 points at home in last season’s Championship
- Those teams were the only sides to lose fewer home games than the three defeats Davies’ team suffered at St Andrew’s in the division
