Villarreal CF v FC Barcelona will become the first game from a top-5 European soccer league to be played in the U.S. The La Liga match will take place on December 20th at the Hard Rock stadium in Miami.
Getty Images
Lamine Yamal, Pedri, and the rest of FC Barcelona’s stars are coming to play in the U.S. La Liga president Javier Tebas announced that Villarreal CF will play FC Barcelona at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on December 20, 2025.
The Matchday 17 fixture would have been a home game for Villarreal, but the Yellow Submarines are willing to cede home-field advantage for the opportunity to play in the U.S.
Speaking to me via videocall, Tebas noted that both clubs asked to be part of this fixture, stating, “We cannot force any club to do this…it is something the clubs asked for and we support it.”
The game has a dual purpose, according to Tebas: “one is to expand the league’s brand,” not only during the 90 minutes, but also through the pre- and post-match fan-focused experiences La Liga plans to host across the U.S. around the game. The second is to offer North American Spanish soccer fans the chance to see their teams play live in a competitive match. Tebas points out that North American fans account for 42% of La Liga’s annual broadcast revenue.
Villarreal season-ticket holders and other local fans have been promised free travel to the game in Miami. Fans who do not attend “will receive a 30% discount on their season ticket.” The funds to cover these costs will come from the matchday revenue.
According to previous reporting from Radio Catalonia (RAC1), Barca stands to receive between €5 and 6 million by participating in this match. An average home game for the Blaugrana last season generated just €2.8 million, although this is expected to jump significantly once the renovation of the Camp Nou is completed.
Villarreal is expected to receive a similar amount, although Tebas said club revenues from the game and ticket pricing are being established by the local promoter, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross’s Relevant Sports.
The decision to bring a competitive league game to the U.S. has not been without controversy, but Tebas is adamant that this will only be a net positive for Spanish soccer. After announcing the Miami fixture, Tebas said, “This match is a historic step that takes La Liga and Spanish football to an all-new level.”
Villarreal club president Fernando Roig said, “This is a unique opportunity for Villarreal CF to further its growth and strengthen its presence in a market as significant as the United States. With this initiative we can reach fans in other parts of the world and continue to expand both the club’s and LALIGA’s brand.”
The Future of European Soccer
La Liga has been looking to play games in the U.S. for years, and has worked painstakingly with its U.S. partner Relevent Sports to make this a reality.
In 2018, La Liga announced it would organize FC Barcelona v Girona in Miami the following year. The Blaugrana club eventually pulled out because the game was not sanctioned by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).
La Liga then tried to bring Villarreal v Atletico Madrid to Miami, but that also faced insurmountable opposition. As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe, La Liga was forced to sideline its plans for an international league game. But the idea never went away.
In 2024, La Liga attempted to bring an FC Barcelona match to Miami once again. The game was going to be against title challenger Atletico Madrid, but the plan was not approved in time.
This time, La Liga has received approval from UEFA (grudgingly), the RFEF, and the U.S. Soccer Federation to host a competitive league match on U.S. soil. This comes just months after FIFA and Relevent settled an antitrust lawsuit, which had previously prohibited foreign leagues from playing competitive matches in the U.S.
The game between Villarreal and Barcelona will be the first domestic fixture from a top-five European soccer league to be played outside its home country, something which Tebas says will bring pride to Villarreal and Barca fans.
It may be the first, but it will not be the last competitive game La Liga hosts outside of Spain. “Our intention is that this be an annual project to bring one game a year,” Tebas told me. “It could be in the United States next year or it could be in another country, but the idea is that it will be a project that continues over time, once a year.”
Lamine Yamal and other Spanish superstars will soon be playing in U.S. stadiums for club and country.
Getty Images
The goal of the game is to drive international growth and expand the league’s global fanbase by pushing into a lucrative foreign market. The game is not intended to compete with the MLS. In fact, Tebas says La Liga is looking to “create synergies so that La Liga and football in general are better known.”
As European soccer leagues struggle to keep pace with the financial dominance of English Premier League Clubs, they are looking for new ways to generate revenue and drive interest in their product. The game in Miami follows the NFL’s lucrative model of international expansion, and according to La Liga “is the result of a direct request from the participating clubs, supported by La Liga.”
La Liga is not the only league pursuing a foreign-match approach. The Italian Serie A is pushing to host a league match between AC Milan and Como in Perth, Australia, later this season. This plan was recently criticized by Milan midfielder Adrien Rabiot, who called it “absurd and crazy.”
However, there is fear that La Liga’s push into the U.S. could be the watershed moment for European soccer, opening the floodgates to leagues, including the Champions League, to take their games abroad.
Despite La Liga’s current commitment to play one game a season abroad, there is a general sense that this could be the breaking of the dam and of European soccer tradition as a whole. At the time of writing, the Premier League and the German Bundesliga have rejected the idea of playing competitive games outside their territory.
Criticism of La Liga
Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong was quick to voice his opposition to the decision to play in the U.S.. “I don’t like that we are going to play there, and I am not in agreement with this,” de Jong told reporters while on national team duty with the Netherlands.
As reported by Marca, de Jong also said, “It’s not fair for the competition that we have to play an away match on neutral ground. I don’t like it and I don’t think it’s right for the players…The clubs are going to profit from this, but I don’t agree with playing a league match in Miami. I understand that other clubs don’t agree.”
The Barcelona midfielder is not the first player to criticize the league’s plan to play competitive matches in the U.S. When the idea was floated earlier this year, Athletic Club goalkeeper Unai Simón did not bite his tongue. The Basque keeper said, “Taking a league match abroad is disrespectful to the fans.”
Playing competitive league matches abroad has long been a divisive issue. La Liga and its participating clubs stand to gain financially, and there is an argument to be made that the league will gain increased visibility by playing in another territory. However, local fans, who have long been the bedrock of these clubs, supporting them week-in, week-out, buying tickets, merchandise, and creating the unique stadium atmospheres, could lose out.
Despite free travel to Miami, not every Villarreal fan will be able to find time to travel or pay for accommodation. Even if the Hard Rock Stadium is full to the rafters with Yellow Submarine fans, will it be an authentic La Liga experience? Will the atmosphere mirror that of Estadio La Ceramica, or will we see the morphing and mutating of soccer culture into something different?
Tebas defends the idea, noting that Spain “has transmitted its culture, its language, its universities and its architecture to all of Latin America, and it has been strengthened because of it.” Perhaps fan culture will also be strengthened, but there is an equal chance it could be watered down compared to a typical match in Spain.
While fans have their concerns, players are the one entity that has gone unconsulted during the decision-making process. De Jong and Simón have expressed their feelings publicly, but the majority of players have not.
The Association of Spanish Soccer Players (AFE) and the captains of every La Liga team released a joint statement in late August rejecting the idea of playing a competitive La Liga match outside Spanish borders. AFE also stated that the players were looking for “respect and transparency,” both of which they felt were lacking during the decision-making process.
Tebas says La Liga will now speak to the players’ union, although there is no obligation to do so.
Real Madrid, a club that has been embroiled in a multiyear battle with La Liga over the direction of Spanish (and global) soccer, sent out an official communication earlier this season rejecting La Liga’s proposition of playing games abroad. The Spanish giant also asked FIFA, UEFA, and the Spanish Ministry of Sport to deny authorization to the league to play games abroad.
Despite the cultural controversy around the decision and the negative environmental implications of flying around the globe for a one-off match, economic factors have won out. There is no turning back this time. Villarreal will play against Barcelona in Miami just before Christmas.
American fans who want to give themselves an early holiday present should be aware that pre-sale for tickets begins on October 21. The general sale begins on October 22.