Barcelona officially announced that Camp Nou will hold a grand ceremony for Messi on the completion day, and the legendary tribute ceremony may be held in 2026

On June 30, Barcelona Club officially announced that it will hold a grand tribute ceremony for the legendary team star Lionel Messi after the complete renovation of the Camp Nou Stadium. The club aims to pay tribute to this meritorious player who has defined the club's glorious history at the highest specifications. However, this highly anticipated grand ceremony may require fans to wait patiently until 2026.

Since the end of the 2022-23 season, Camp Nou has been closed due to large-scale renovation projects. The club is fully committed to promoting the project, with the goal of reducing capacity stadiums to be put into use in the Gambel Cup event on August 10 this year. To this end, Barcelona has applied to the La Liga, hoping that the first three rounds of the new season will be away games, so as to gain more sufficient preparation time for the stadium improvement.

Club Vice Chairman Elena Ford confirmed that before the Gamble Cup match against Cuomo, the load test required by the Town Hall must be completed and approved to determine the number of seats that can be opened. She said that 60,000 people are the target capacity of the effort, but the club must be realistic because entry access and security during construction are the biggest challenges facing the moment. If the goal is not achieved, the alternative will be to enable the John Cruyff Mini Stadium.

Ford particularly emphasized the conditions for Messi's tribute ceremony: "Leo Messi's tribute ceremony must be held when Camp Nou is 100% completed, which is undoubtedly because he is the greatest player in Barcelona's history." When asked whether the Gambel Cup will be held in the completed Camp Nou next year, Ford gave a clearer timetable: "We think that by the summer of 2026, it can be said that the stadium has been completed. Of course, it may not be 100% visually perfect, such as the final finishing work of the roof may still be underway, but all the main facilities will be ready by then."

Looking back at Messi's Barcelona career, the Argentinian played a record 778 games in red and blue jerseys between 2004 and 2021, scoring an astonishing 672 goals, both of which are the club's best. The root of its regrettable departure is that the club is in a financial dilemma, which has led to the fact that the new contract that the two parties have reached has been unable to complete the registration.

After two years at Paris Saint-Germain, Messi had a chance to return to Camp Nou this summer. However, due to doubts about whether the club really has the ability to fulfill the contract, Messi finally chose to reject Barcelona's invitation and went to the US League to join Miami International - the loss of Barcelona became Miami's gain.