Futbol Club Barcelona was founded on 29 November 1899 by Swiss businessman Hans (Joan) Gamper, who placed an advertisement in a Catalan newspaper inviting football enthusiasts to form a club. The founding meeting in the Gimnasio Solé brought together eleven men from Switzerland, England, Germany and Catalonia. The club's blue-and-garnet colours (blaugrana) and identity as a symbol of Catalan culture and resistance — particularly during Franco's dictatorship — became enshrined in the motto "Més que un club" (More than a club). Camp Nou has been the spiritual home since 1957, currently undergoing major renovation while the team plays at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.
Barcelona's 27 La Liga titles, 32 Copa del Rey triumphs (the most), and five UEFA Champions League victories — 1992 Wembley (the first under Johan Cruyff's "Dream Team"), 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015 — establish the club among football's all-time elite. Cruyff's transformative tenure as player and manager defined Barça's modern identity, importing the total football tradition from Ajax. The 2008-2012 era under Pep Guardiola produced the legendary tiki-taka side — Lionel Messi, Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Carles Puyol — that won three of those four Champions Leagues and completed the historic 2009 Sextuple (six trophies in a calendar year), the first ever achieved.
Lionel Messi's 17 senior years at the club (2004-2021) are the most decorated by any single player at any club — 35 trophies, eight Ballons d'Or won in Barcelona colours, and the club's all-time records for goals (672) and appearances (778). Messi's 2021 forced departure to Paris Saint-Germain remains a profound emotional rupture. The La Masia academy — origin of Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets, Pep Guardiola, Pedri, Lamine Yamal and Gavi — is football's most decorated youth system. The 2024-25 La Liga title under Hansi Flick, fuelled by Yamal's brilliance, marked a return to the top after a turbulent post-Messi adjustment. Barcelona's defining rivalry remains El Clásico against Real Madrid — football's most-watched club fixture — with the local Barcelona Derby against Espanyol completing the regional context.