Barcelona to honour Hamza Abdelkarim with Champions League debut badge

Hamza Abdelkarim is set to make his UEFA Champions League debut for Barcelona against Feyenoord at Spotify Camp Nou on Wednesday, with the 18-year-old Egyptian forward due to wear a special badge marking his first appearance in the competition.

Abdelkarim will share the distinction with Barcelona midfielder Brian Farinas, 20, as the only available players in the first-team squad who have not previously featured in Europe’s leading club competition.

Both players will wear UEFA’s newly introduced “debut badge”, which is being used in the Champions League for the first time this season. The commemorative initiative has been launched by UEFA in collaboration with UEFA 3 (UC3) and global sports trading card company Topps.

The badge is only worn during the player’s first appearance on the pitch in the competition. That remains the case even if the player enters as a substitute. It is incorporated into the familiar Champions League starball emblem on the sleeve of the shirt.

Abdelkarim is registered on Barcelona’s first European squad list, known as List A, while Farinas is included on List B as a youth academy player. Both are therefore expected to wear the distinctive mark if they take part against Feyenoord.

The opportunity could extend beyond those two players later in the campaign. Barcelona’s injured players Jesse Bissouw, registered on List A, and Ebrima Tunkara also took part in UEFA’s official photography session for the initiative. If they return to fitness and make their Champions League debuts, they could receive the badge as well.

Other academy graduates who may become eligible include Jordi Pesquer and goalkeepers Eder Aller and Iker Rodriguez, should they be called into the squad during the season.

The badge has been designed to carry a lasting record of a player’s first Champions League appearance. After the player makes that debut, the blue patch identifying the occasion is removed from the shirt worn in the match and carefully documented.

It is then securely packaged and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity before being handed to Topps. The company incorporates the patch into a unique commemorative card, which is personally signed by the player.

That process is intended to turn each item into a rare collectable for supporters around the world, while creating the first Champions League card in the career record of the Egyptian youngster if Abdelkarim features against Feyenoord.

The match could therefore provide more than an important European occasion for Barcelona’s young players. For Abdelkarim, it represents the next major moment in a fast-developing career and the chance to begin his Champions League story with a piece of memorabilia created specifically to mark the occasion.

Readers can discuss this and other football news in greater depth on the Kooora forums.