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It’s something that is very familiar for American sports fans: Your favorite team in your favorite sport is sent to play a regular season game abroad.

The NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL all regularly do this and, in some cases, are increasing the amount of games held overseas every year in an effort to expand the footprint of the sport, as well as for economic reasons.

Now, European soccer is joining America’s superpower sports in attempting to host fixtures beyond its native shores.

On August 11, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) officially gave its stamp of approval to a plan proposed by LaLiga to play a regular season match between FC Barcelona and Villarreal – which was originally scheduled to be played at the Estadio de la Cerámica in Villarreal on December 21 – at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.

The proposal was then “reluctantly” approved by European governing body UEFA on Monday and now moves to world governing body FIFA for the final authorization steps in what would be a groundbreaking game: the first ever European fixture to be played in the US.

In a similar move, the Italian Football Federation approved a regular season league match between AC Milan and Como to be played in Australia in February 2026, though the fixture is also pending official sign-off from FIFA following Monday’s approval by UEFA.

LaLiga president Javier Tebas speaks at a press conference in May 2023. OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP/AFP via Getty Images

If the Spanish match is approved, the event would be a massive victory for LaLiga President Javier Tebas, who has been pushing for the match for years. Tebas argues that it would help the Spanish league stay competitive in a European landscape which increasingly sees the English Premier League earn more and more money, while its continental counterparts fall ever further behind.

“It’s not enough to show your matches on TV. The official match in the US will strengthen our position in the North American market,” Tebas told Spanish outlet Expansión in April 2024.