Desert Duel: Barça, Madrid, and the Spanish Super Cup Head to Jeddah in 2026
29 septembre 2025
The city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site, will host the Spanish Super Cup again in 2026.
For the second straight year and the tournament’s third edition at this venue, matches will be staged at King Abdullah Sports City from Wednesday January 7 to Sunday January 11, 2026.
Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao will clash on one side, while Atlético Madrid will face Real Madrid on the other in the semi-finals.
The semi-final order will be confirmed by an official draw, and all three matches will kick off at eight o’clock in Spain time (ten o’clock in Saudi Arabia).
More than 60,000 fans filled the Jeddah stadium last January, and hundreds of millions watched globally, underscoring the competition’s growing worldwide appeal.
Barcelona targets continued dominance in the 2025-2026 season under German coach Hans Flick, as they push to extend their trophy haul.
Last season Barça swept La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Spanish Super Cup, and were in contention for the Champions League final before a hard-fought exit to Inter.
This season the Blaugrana aim to defend the league title and chase more trophies, bolstered by high-profile signings and a renewed sense of purpose.
Barça remains the second-most titled La Liga club with 28 league crowns, behind Real Madrid’s 36, but Barcelona holds the record for the most Spanish Super Cup titles (15).
Their first league title dates back to 1928-1929, the league’s inaugural season, with the most recent crown coming in 2024-2025.
In the mid-1990s Barça captured four consecutive league titles from 1990-91 to 1993-94, the longest consecutive run in the club’s history.
Fans anticipate a trio of heavyweight clashes in the 2026 edition, the sixth Spain’s Super Cup chapter staged in Saudi Arabia since the format expanded to four teams in 2019.
The Spanish Football Federation extended its agreement with Saudi Arabia through 2029; since 2019 the competition has been held as a four-team tournament, except for the interrupted 2020-2021 edition in Spain due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The last edition’s final featured Real Madrid and Barcelona, with Barça claiming the title 5-2 at the King Abdullah Sports City.
Saudi broadcaster SSC holds exclusive rights for the Middle East and North Africa, with MBC and specifically MBC Egypt also showing the games. Viewers can stream via Shahid, and Kooora provides live video coverage about an hour before each game.
Barcelona clinched the 2025 Spanish Super Cup by beating Real Madrid 5-2, with Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski (two), and Rafinha among the scorers for Barça; Real’s goals came from Kylian Mbappé and Rodrygo Goes.
Real Madrid reached the final by defeating Mallorca 3-0 in the semi-final, while Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 2-0.
The Super Cup’s history is packed with records: Real Madrid has reached the final 14 times, while Barça has won the title 15 times. Lionel Messi sits atop the scoring chart with 14 goals, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s 11. Atlético Madrid remains the only side to win the trophy three times in a row (2014-2016).
These clashes highlight a competition that continues to grow as a global spectacle, with Saudi Arabia leveraging the event to cement its role as a football hub.
Punchline 1: If goals were bullets, Barça would be running a war zone—but luckily the only thing getting fired is the trophy case.
Punchline 2: And remember, in football as in life, the offside rule has a PhD in party-crashers, but these teams still know how to crash the party with style.
