NEW YORK: La Liga plans to make an international soccer match an annual event after announcing Barcelona and Villarreal will play outside Miami on Dec. 20, Spanish league president Javier Tebas said during an interview with The Associated Press.
Becoming the first major European league to move a competitive match abroad, La Liga is following the model of the NFL, which has played in London since 2007, and this season also has games in Berlin, Dublin, Madrid and Sao Paulo.
“The idea is to follow a similar model but with one difference: We will only play one match abroad,” Tebas said of future schedules. “So I strongly believe that what they are doing is something very positive for the competition. They are letting people all over the world to know the competition, to engage with the competition.”
The soccer match will be played at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. La Liga intends to announce future international games with longer lead times. It usually releases its schedule around the start of July.
“It’s a strategy that will help to increase revenues in the mid- to long-term, because we will increase the value of our partners, our sponsors. We will increase the value of audiovisual rights with our broadcasters,” he said.
“Hopefully we will increase the interest, the engagement of the audience in other countries as we are expecting to bring this one game every year to different countries around the world.”
Italy’s Serie A is planning to move a Feb. 8 match between Milan and Como from San Siro to Perth, Australia, because the Italian stadium won’t be available after hosting the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics two days earlier.
Tebas said the experience of playing in an NFL stadium with many food and beverage options and gathering areas could spark improvements in Spain. Real Madrid renovated Estadio Santiago Bernabéu and Osasuna revamped El Sadar.
Construction is ongoing at Barcelona’s Camp Nou, Betis’ Estadio Benito Villamarín and Getafe’s Estadio Coliseum, and Valencia has long-delayed plans for a Nou Mestalla.
“The objective is to increase the match day experience more than the two hours,” Tebas said. “The clubs are already working toward that objective.”
CONCACAF, soccer’s governing body for North and Central America and the Caribbean, said Thursday it must approve the match and “will conduct a thorough review of the application, including consulting key regional and global stakeholders.”
Tebas said CONCACAF cannot block the game because of last year’s settlement that dropped FIFA from a lawsuit by the promoter Relevent, which like Hard Rock Stadium and the Dolphins is owned by Stephen Ross.
“There is already a positive resolution in court that Relevent achieved against FIFA and that goes as well to CONCACAF in the US, so they can’t really go against that court resolution,” he said.
Tebas said Barcelona and Villarreal would play any Copa del Rey round of 32 matches on Dec. 16, then fly immediately after their games and arrive in Florida early on Wednesday ahead of the Saturday game.
Tebas said La Liga has chartered planes to bring to Florida what it estimates will be 2,000 to 3,000 fans from Villarreal, which is the home team. Relevent said a presale of tickets will start Oct. 21 and general sale the next day.
Spain’s La Liga plans to make its international match an annual event
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Spain’s La Liga plans to make its international match an annual event
- “The idea is to follow a similar model but with one difference: We will only play one match abroad,” Tebas said
- “It’s a strategy that will help to increase revenues in the mid- to long-term, because we will increase the value of our partners, our sponsors
France qualify for 2026 World Cup; Ronaldo sent off as Portugal lose to Ireland
- Two goals from star striker Mbappe helped two-time champions France to qualify with a 4-0 home win against Ukraine on Thursday
- Ronaldo will serve a mandatory one-game ban imposed for any red card when Portugal play Armenia
- Erling Haaland scored twice as Norway moved closer to qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since 1998 by beating Estonia 4-1 in Oslo
LONDON: Kylian Mbappe and France are going to the 2026 World Cup. And Cristiano Ronaldo might be banned from Portugal’s first game there if his team finally win their European qualifying group.
Two goals from star striker Mbappe helped two-time champion France to qualify with a 4-0 home win against Ukraine on Thursday. But Ronaldo was ejected for the first time in his international career and Portugal will have to wait until Sunday to secure a qualifying spot for the seventh straight time after it was stunned 2-0 by Ireland in Dublin.
Midfielder Michael Olize and substitute forward Hugo Ekitike added the other goals in a dominant second half from France, the World Cup runner-up in 2022.
Mbappe sent the penalty straight down the middle to break the deadlock in the 55th minute before Olize turned inside the penalty area to curl home the second goal in the 76th at Parc des Princes in western Paris. Mbappé poked in France’s third goal from close range in the 83rd following a goal-mouth scramble. Mbappe moved onto 55 goals and just two behind Olivier Giroud as France’s all-time top scorer.
“The French national team will always be better with him in it,” coach Didier Deschamps said about Mbappé. “He makes things easier for us. He performed his role perfectly this evening, as both a player and the captain of the national team.”
Mbappe went close to a hat trick moments later but blazed over after going clean through.
France have won Group D with 13 points, Ukraine and Iceland are tied on seven points and will play for second place when they meet on Sunday.
Ronaldo’s 1st international red card
Portugal will host last-place Armenia in the final qualifying game on Sunday, when Hungary host Ireland at the same time.
Portugal top Group F with 10 points, two ahead of Hungary. Ireland are third with seven points.
Ronaldo was sent off for elbowing Ireland defender Dara O’Shea on the hour. The referee issued a yellow card but minutes later upgraded it to red after a video review.
Portugal coach Roberto Martinez said he thought the ejection was “a bit harsh,” pointing out that Ronaldo “has never been sent off before in 226 games.”
Ronaldo will serve a mandatory one-game ban imposed for any red card when Portugal play Armenia. FIFA disciplinary rules require its judges to impose a ban of “at least two matches for serious foul play.”
Troy Parrott put the hosts ahead with a close-range header following a corner kick in the 17th minute against the run of play with Portugal dominant. Parrott added his second in the final minute before the break, beating Diogo Costa with a low shot from inside the area.
Haaland’s double
Erling Haaland scored twice as Norway moved closer to qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since 1998 by beating Estonia 4-1 in Oslo.
The win virtually secures a spot for the high-scoring Norwegians in next year’s tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico.
Italy had to rely on late goals from Gianluca Mancini and substitute Francesco Pio Esposito to win 2-0 at Moldova and is second in Group I, trailing leader Norway by three points.
Italy will likely have to settle for the playoffs where the four-time World Cup champions were eliminated in the past two editions. They host Norway on Sunday and would have to win by a nine-goal margin to directly qualify because of Norway’s vastly superior goal difference.
Haaland has scored 14 of Norway’s European-best 33 goals in seven group-stage games. The Manchester City striker was born two years after Norway last reached the World Cup.
Still perfect England
Already-qualified England continued to cruise.
They beat Serbia 2-0 at Wembley Stadium to keep a perfect record in Group K and are yet to concede a goal.
Bukayo Saka fired England ahead on a rebound with a left-foot volley in the 28th after an initial shot by Nico O’Reilly was blocked. Substitute forward Eberechi Eze added the second in the 90th off a pass from another substitute, Phil Foden.
Albania beat Andorra 1-0 in the same group to secure the runner-up spot.
