Futbol Club Barcelona was founded on 29 November 1899 by a group of Swiss, Catalan, German and English footballers led by Joan Gamper. Owned and run by its members rather than a private proprietor, the club adopted the motto Més que un club and became a powerful symbol of Catalan identity. Its home is the Camp Nou, the largest stadium in Europe.

Barcelona has won close to thirty Spanish league titles and a record number of Copa del Rey trophies, together with five European Cup or Champions League crowns and a record four Cup Winners' Cups. The teams built around Johan Cruyff's ideas and later around Pep Guardiola, Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and Lionel Messi produced two trebles, in 2009 and 2015, and defined a style of possession football imitated worldwide. The club competes in La Liga.