Hard Rock Stadium, which recently held games for the FIFA Club World Cup, could serve as host for the first La Liga regular season match ever held in the United States on Dec. 20 in Miami Gardens, Fla. File Photo by Chris Brunskill/UPI | License Photo
The Spanish football federation, or RFEF, approved a La Liga request to hold a match between Barcelona and Villarreal in Miami this season, officials announced Monday.
The RFEF board of directors deliberated on the matter at a meeting Monday. Villarreal is scheduled to host Barcelona on Matchday 17, Dec. 21, in Villarreal, Spain.
“After receiving and checking the documentation received, and after the approval of the board of directors, the Royal Spanish Football Federation will submit to UEFA the request to begin the procedures for the subsequent authorization by FIFA for the match to be played at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Dec. 20, 2025, in accordance with the FIFA international match regulations and the implementing rules approved by the RFEF,” the federation said in a news release.
The United States Soccer Federation, UEFA, CONCACAF and FIFA must still sign off on the move. If the game is finalized, it will mark the first time in history that a Spanish first division game would be played overseas.
Girona will host Rayo Vallecano in the first La Liga match of the season Friday in Girona. Barcelona will battle Mallorca in another season opener Saturday in Palma on the Spanish island of Mallorca.
