Flamengo vs Barcelona: Under-20 Intercontinental Cup 2025 preview: Where to watch, kick-off time, key players

Flamengo play Barcelona at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Saturday 23 August in the Under-20 Intercontinental Cup 2025.

Where to watch Flamengo vs Barcelona on TV and streaming

The Under-20 Intercontinental Cup match will be available in the following territories via UEFA and CONMEBOL's broadcast partners:

Belgium: Proximus
France: Canal+
Greece: COSMOTE TV
Georgia: Silknet
Hungary: RTL
Israel: The Sports Channel Israel
Spain: betevé
United Kingdom: TNT Sports UK

Brazil: Globo, Sportv
Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Belize, Bolivia, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba (to the extent permitted by US law), Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Marten, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Islands, Uruguay, Venezuela: ESPN

The match will be streamed live on UEFA.tv in all 55 UEFA territories.

What do you need to know?

One of a number of events launched as part of UEFA's co-operation with CONMEBOL, this is the fourth U20 Intercontinental Cup. The first in 2022 was won by UEFA Youth League holders Benfica against Peñarol at Estadio Centenario, Montevideo and in 2023 victory went to Copa Libertadores Sub-20 champions Boca Juniors, edging out AZ Alkmaar on penalties at La Bombonera in Buenos Aires.

Last year Flamengo also hosted the fixture at the Maracanã and beat Olympiacos 2-1, coming from behind before substitute Felipe Teresa scored an added-time winner in front of more than 30,000 fans. They are hosting the fixture again having qualified by retaining the Copa Libertadores Sub-20 title in March in Paraguay, defeating Brazilian rivals Palmeiras on 3-2 penalties after a 1-1 draw to become the competition's first two-time champions, something they now hope to emulate in the Intercontinental competition.

Felipe Teresa is among nine of the side that played against Olympiacos last year who are in the squad again. Shola Ogundana, Daniel Sales, João Victor, João Alves, Guilherme Gomes, Matheus Gonçalves and Iago all started in 2024 while De Mata, like Felipe Teresa, came off the bench.

Forward Shola Ogundana was named 2025 Libertadores player of the tournament and has senior experience with Flamengo, as do Matheus Gonçalves (appearing more than 30 times including in the Copa Libertadores), Daniel Sales, Iago, João Victor, Felipe Teresa and Guilherme, who got the winning penalty against Palmeiras and scored on his first-team debut in November.

However Filipe Luís (who coached Flamengo in this match last year before promotion to lead the seniors) has opted to keep another of their 2024 line-up, Wallace Yan, with his first-team squad. Matheus Gonçalves missed training on Friday with a thigh injury.

Barcelona are making their debut in the U20 Intercontinental Cup after becoming the first three-time UEFA Youth League winners in April, beating Trabzonspor 4-1 in Nyon to add to their titles in 2013/14 and 2017/18.

They had finished fourth in the new-look league phase, bouncing back from losing their opener to Monaco with five straight wins, then defeated GNK Dinamo on penalties and prevailed away to Aston Villa and Stuttgart to reach the Nyon finals. An early Juan Hernández penalty was enough for a 1-0 win against AZ Alkmaar before their impressive final display against a fervently-supported Trabzonspor side.

UEFA Champions League winner Juliano Belletti was their winning coach, now promoted to lead Barcelona Atlètic but back in charge of his former squad in his Brazilian homeland on Saturday. UEFA's analysis unit said of his Barcelona Youth League team that they excelled both in and out of possession, especially with their variety of passing.

However, five of Barcelona's starters against Trabzonspor, including scorers of three of the four goals, have not travelled to Rio de Janeiro. Ibrahim Diarra, who got two goals against Trabzonspor, is injured while captain Hugo Alba, also on target in Nyon, defender Eman Kospo and winger Arnau Pradas all left Barcelona in the summer and goalkeeper Áron Yaakobishvili is out on loan.

What the coaches say

Bruno Pivetti, Flamengo coach: "Flamengo had the opportunity to be crowned champion last year against Olympiasos. Now we face Barcelona, one of the great clubs of the world. We know this match has a global following; we know the magnitude of the fixture.

"We've played in important tournaments this year. Our performances are improving. We've achieved good results in recent matches, and I think we're well prepared to compete at our best against Barcelona and increase our chances of winning. That's what we'll be looking for, although we're fully aware of the quality of our opponents, we know the level of competition will be extremely high."

Juliano Belletti, Barcelona coach: "It is the first competitive match in Barça's history in Brazil and we will play at the Maracanã. We have to represent the club well, show what La Masia means, and compete to win.

"We don't have to change our way of playing; it is what has brought us here. And why not compete to win? For me, being in Brazil as FC Barcelona coach is feeling special, more than I could have imagined."

Barcelona get a feel for the MaracanãCONMEBOL

Can there be extra time?

This one-off fixture will be played over 90 minutes. There is no extra time, so if the tie is level at the end of regulation time then it goes straight to penalties. Each team is permitted to use five of their 12 substitutes