Udine 16/07/2026 – Less than a year after Udine welcomed the UEFA Super Cup, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Bluenergy Stadium are back in the spotlight of international football, thanks to a collaboration between the Friuli Venezia Giulia region and Udinese Calcio.
On Saturday 8 August, kicking off at 20:00 CEST, Udinese Calcio’s home will host the first edition of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Cup, a prestigious event that will pit Udinese against two top-class international clubs: FC Barcelona and Nottingham Forest.
The Catalans, among the most successful and followed clubs in the world, are the reigning champions of La Liga. As for Nottingham Forest, a historic English club which has won two European Cups, they stood out last season for their achievement of reaching the Europa League semi-finals.
The event will mark Barcelona’s first visit to Udine in almost 20 years, since the Blaugrana faced the Zebrette in the UEFA Champions League on 7 December 2005, while it will be the first time ever that Nottingham Forest will be playing in the capital of Friuli.
The tournament serves as a fantastic opportunity for the local area to bask in the international spotlight once more and emphasises Friuli Venezia Giulia and Bluenergy Stadium’s ability to attract great teams and world-class events.
Tournament format
The three-way tournament will consist of three matches lasting 45 minutes each, which will be played in the following order:
Udinese v Nottingham Forest (20:00)
Barcelona v Nottingham Forest (to follow)
Udinese v Barcelona (to follow)
If scores are level after 45 minutes, the winner will be determined by a round of penalty kicks. The victorious team will get two points and the losing team one point. If a team wins in regulation time they will receive three points, as per the norms of regular football.
Collavino: "Unique opportunity for fans and for all of Friuli Venezia Giulia"
“We’re delighted to host the first edition of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Cup,” declared Franco Collavino, General Manager of Udinese Calcio. “It’ll be an important event for the team as competitive games draw nearer, as well as an extraordinary opportunity for the promotion of Friuli Venezia Giulia. Barcelona are one of the most followed clubs in the world, with an estimated fan base of around 400 million, while Nottingham Forest are a historic club both in English and European football, having won the European Cup twice. For fans and tourists it’s set to be an evening of great sport as well as a unique opportunity to discover what makes Friuli Venezia Giulia so special. This event underscores the role of Bluenergy Stadium as a facility capable of attracting major international events and putting Friuli Venezia Giulia at the centre of attention of world football.”
Boasting a modern stadium that hosts the matches of Udinese Calcio, one of the oldest sports clubs in Italy (founded in 1896), the city of Udine will welcome this highly anticipated spectacle, offering hospitality to Catalan and English fans. Udine and the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, in the north-eastern part of Italy, is a compelling tourist destination that offers sea, mountains, hills, rich artistic and cultural treasures and unparalleled food and wine excellence all within an area of a few hundred square kilometres.
Fedriga: "A major event that combines sport, tourism, and the promotion of the local area"
“The region was keen to host the first edition of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Cup. It strongly reflects our approach to publicity by combining sport, tourism and the promotion of the local area in an international event. It’s really satisfying for us to see these two important teams compete with Udinese in one of our cities, thus contributing to the exposure of Friuli Venezia Giulia. We’d like to thank Udinese Calcio for once again collaborating with us, in turn strengthening a partnership that has seen us work together for many years towards this common goal. In recent years, the Friuli Venezia Giulia region has managed to attract and host numerous international events and we’re sure that the exceptional media visibility provided by the tournament will compel many onlookers. We will welcome tourists from Great Britain and Catalonia with open arms. We’re ready to show them our beauty, our treasures and our food and wine tradition in the hope that this sporting event will encourage them to come back in the future, helped by the direct flights that connect England and Spain to Trieste’s airport.”
Tickets for the tournament will be available soon on TicketOne. More information on sales methods and prices will be announced through the official channels of Udinese Calcio and the Friuli Venezia Giulia region.