Last week, La Liga confirmed that Villarreal and Barcelona will face off at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium in December, thus becoming the first match in the league’s history to be played outside of Spain.

In recent years, it has been a dream of La Liga to host one of their matches in the United States. They failed in 2023 with Barcelona-Girona and 2024 with Barcelona-Atletico Madrid, but they have now got their wish, with president Javier Tebas calling it “a historic step that takes La Liga and Spanish football to an all-new level”.

Villarreal and Barcelona were in favour of the match’s relocation from the get-go, and it means that instead of being played at the Estadio de la Ceramica, thousands of local fans will need black car airport transportation from Miami International Airport to the Hard Rock Stadium, rather than the much shorter trip to Vila-Real.

La Liga confirm match details

As for the match itself, La Liga have announced that it will be played at the Hard Rock Stadium, Miami on the 20th of December 2025. An exact kick-off time will be announced closer to the date, as it will be made known alongside the rest of the MD17 fixtures. Tickets for the event are set to go on sale later this month.

There has been strong opposition to the match

Much has been made of La Liga’s desire to move one of their matches to the United States, with many notable personnel having expressed their dissatisfaction. UEFA joined in with this last week, although they reluctantly gave the green light for Villarreal-Barcelona to be played in Miami, given that they had no basis to block the request.

Notably, Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong spoke out against the USA fixture last week, stating that he “doesn’t like that we are going to play there”, claiming that it’s not fair for the competition and not good for the players”. Despite this, it is expected that he will be involved in Miami, as long as he is fit and available come December.

It may not be very popular, but the reality is that La Liga will soon be going to the United States for the first time. Given that Barcelona are involved, the match is sure to attract a large number of spectators, although it is likely that not many will be from Spanish shores.