The 2025/26 Bundesliga season isn’t even halfway over yet, but Bayern Munich fans in China will be pleased to hear that the club is actively planning to play preseason friendlies there in the summer of
2026. According to information from Sport Bild’s Christian Falk and Tobi Altschäffl (via @iMiaSanMia), Bayern’s plan is to schedule two friendlies, one of which would take place in Hong Kong, provided the Chinese government grants approval.
With the World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada running from June 11th to July 19th next summer, the idea for Bayern is to schedule their two friendlies in China for early August ahead of the 2026/27 season. Depending on which Bayern players reach the latter stages of the World Cup with their respective nations, certain stars may or may not be part of the squad that travels to China in August, assuming the government approves Bayern’s trip.
Assuming everything is green-lit, this would be the first time Bayern have gone to China since 2017 and 2015 for their preseason Audi Summer Tours, during which they played a range of European and Chinese clubs. They also visited in the summer of 2012, and they further established a presence in the country when they opened an official club office in Shanghai in 2016 as part of the club and brand’s globalization and marketing efforts. The Bundesliga has always had a massive following in Asia, and it made perfect sense for Bayern to establish a physical presence in China beyond occasional preseason tours.
The club was supposed to play a special friendly against the Chinese men’s national team in May 2019, but they had to postpone the match because Bayern reached the DFB-Pokal final in Berlin, where they defeated RB Leipzig 3–0 to complete a domestic double under manager Niko Kovač.
