Villarreal’s La Liga match against Barcelona in December could become the first European league fixture to be played abroad after the Spanish football federation approved plans to host the game in the United States.
The RFEF will now seek permission from Fifa and Uefa to move the game to the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, which is scheduled to host seven matches at the 2026 World Cup.
The game is currently scheduled to be played at Villarreal’s Estadio de la Ceramica on 21 December.
“At its meeting on 11 August 2025, the RFEF board of directors received a request from Villarreal CF and FC Barcelona to play their match on matchday 17 of the first division in the United States,” the RFEF said.
“The Royal Spanish Football Federation will submit the request to Uefa to begin the process for subsequent authorisation by Fifa for the match to be played at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on 20 December 2025.”
The Spanish football supporters’ association FASFE has joined with Barcelona and Villarreal fan groups to express their “absolute, total and firm opposition” to the plans.
In a joint statement, they urged the RFEF and the national sports council to “stop this madness”, warning they would “take appropriate legal action” if it went ahead.
Other one-off matches, such as the Italian Super Cup and Spanish Super Cup, have been held abroad in recent years.
AC Milan are hoping to play their Serie A match against Como in Perth, Australia in February, as the fixture clashes with their San Siro stadium hosting the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.
However, the plans have yet to receive approval from Fifa, Uefa, Football Australia and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
Fifa’s rules currently do not allow domestic league matches to be played abroad, but last year it set up a working group to look into the matter.
Last year, La Liga said it wanted to hold Barcelona v Atletico Madrid in Miami before dropping the idea because of time constraints.
In 2019, Barcelona also planned to stage a league match against Girona in Miami, but the idea was scrapped after opposition from the RFEF and its players’ union.
The Premier League has previously said it has no plans to play games overseas.
In 2008, then Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore proposed playing an extra round of fixtures abroad, but the plans were shelved after criticism from fans and the media. – BBC.
