Barcelona set to play historic match no Spanish club has ever done if UEFA give final approval

A La Liga match involving Barcelona is set to be played outside of Spain and become the maiden competitive European league football game to take place outside the continent.

For a few years in the 2000s, the idea was floated that a 39th Premier League game could take place outside of the UK, but the plans never properly materialised after widespread backlash to the proposals.

Premier League teams often conduct tours in the likes of Asia and the USA to appeal to the widespread fanbase which English top flight sides now enjoy in these parts of the globe.

These have typically been in the form of pre-season tours, but in recent years there has also been a rise of post-season trips which sides use to increase their revenues.

Barcelona's La Liga match against Villarreal is set to be played abroad. (Image: Getty)

But history now appears to have been made after proposals to play a competitive league fixture outside of Europe moved a big step closer to reality.

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has confirmed it has received a request from Villarreal and Barcelona to shift their La Liga clash, which is currently scheduled to take place at the former's Estadio de la Ceramica on 21 December, to the United States.

The request proposes that the game is instead held at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, a day earlier on 20 December.

A statement from the RFEF confirmed the request will now be submitted to UEFA so it can begin approving the potential fixture switch with FIFA.

The Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. (Image: Getty)

The statement read: "At its meeting on August 11, 2025, the RFEF Board of Directors learned of the request from Villarreal CF and FC Barcelona to host the matchday 17 of the First Division in the United States.

"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 the 'Hard Rock Stadium' in Miami (United States, USSF, CONCACAF), on December 20, 2025, in accordance with the FIFA International Match Regulations and the implementing rules approved by the RFEF."

Two previous attempts to switch La Liga matches to venues outside of Spain failed to ultimately come to fruition.

Barcelona had been due to take on Girona at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami - where the Villarreal game would take place - in 2019, but the plans were shelved after opposition from the RFEF and the players' union.

And proposals for the clash between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid to take place in Miami last year did not come to fruition due to time constraints, with the request only being made a matter of months before the game would have taken place.