The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has approved the request from the Barcelona and Villarreal clubs to play a LaLiga match in Miami this season.
The announcement was made after a meeting of the RFEF’s board of directors, marking the first step for a match of the Spanish first division to be played outside of Spain for the first time.
The match in question, corresponding to matchday 17 of LaLiga, is scheduled for the weekend of December 20, 2025, and will pit Villarreal against Barcelona.
Both clubs have requested that the match be held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, instead of the Estadio de la Cerámica, Villarreal’s home ground.
“At its meeting on August 11, 2025, the RFEF’s board of directors has learned of the request from the clubs Villarreal CF and FC Barcelona to play their match of the 17th matchday of the first division in the United States,” the RFEF stated in a statement.
RFEF
The RFEF, after reviewing the documentation and obtaining the board’s approval, will forward the request to UEFA. This will initiate the procedures for FIFA to authorize the match at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on December 20, 2025, in accordance with FIFA’s international regulations and RFEF’s rules.
The initiative to play an official match in the United States is a key objective for LaLiga. The president of LaLiga, Javier Tebas, had expressed his desire to achieve it during the 2025-26 season.
A previous attempt by LaLiga to play a match in Miami, between Barcelona and Girona in January 2019, was thwarted by the opposition of the RFEF, UEFA and FIFA.
In 2024, FIFA created a working group to analyze the implications of playing official matches outside its borders, after having shown its initial opposition to this idea.
This change occurred after a legal action filed by LaLiga’s American partners, Relevent Sports, against FIFA and the United States Soccer Federation, due to the blocking of LaLiga’s proposal. The parties subsequently reached an agreement, and the lawsuit was dismissed. The RFEF, under the new presidency of Rafael Louzan, also now supports the plan.
In July, the Italian football federation backed the Serie A’s request to play the league match between AC Milan and Como in Australia, scheduled for February.
In the case of the Villarreal vs. Barcelona match in Miami, all involved federations (RFEF, USSF, UEFA, CONCACAF, and FIFA) must give their approval.
The Spanish Super Cup is already played outside the country, with the RFEF organizing the competition in Saudi Arabia in 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
