Real Madrid's 23 trips to the United States
They played their first game there in 1927 and this summer our team is back to play against Milan, Barcelona and Chelsea.
Real Madrid are back in the United States one summer after their last visit. It will be the 23rd time that the club will play matches in the North American country. The first match dates back to 1927. In that year, our team faced Galicia SC in New York (1-1). They have since played 53 matches in the United States, with three more coming up against Milan in Chicago, Barcelona in New Jersey and Chelsea in Charlotte.
Di Stefano's Madrid
It was more than 30 years after that first visit before they set foot on American soil again. Two games were played at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn (New York) in 1959. At that time, Di Stéfano, Puskas and Gento headed a team that was making history winning European Cups. The first trip to Los Angeles came two years later, in 1961. The opponents were Los Angeles United and Madrid thrashed them 9-0 with actress Rita Hayworth taking the kick-off.
The Madrid yeyé
The fourth visit to the United States was in 1965, at the start of the season that saw Madrid win the sixth European Cup. The yeyé of Grosso and Zoco, as well as others, featured in a team that drew 1-1 with Independiente in New York. In 1967, Houston hosted Real Madrid-West Ham (3-2). One year later, our team visited New York's Yankee Stadium where they beat New York General (4-1).
La Quinta del Buitre
Twenty-two years later, Real Madrid returned to the United States in 1990 with the Quinta del Buitre, who had won five consecutive La Liga titles. They played four matches in California, winning three of them.
21st Century
The first visit to the United States in the 21st century was in 2002, the year of the Centenary. The team made the trip to New Jersey for a match against Roma. Three years later, with Ronaldo and Beckham in the squad, Real Madrid kicked off a tour in Chicago that would also take them to the Asian continent. They beat Chivas Guadalajara (1-3) and Los Angeles Galaxy (0-2).
They played two matches in 2006. The first in Seattle against DC United (1-1), and the second one in Utah against Real Salt Lake City (0-2). Real Madrid chose Washington to visit when they visited the USA in 2009. FedEx Field hosted a match in which they beat DC United 3-0.
Los Angeles takes centre stage
The first time Real Madrid held a training camp in Los Angeles was in 2010. The team played two friendlies, against LA Galaxy at the Rose Bowl stadium and against América of Mexico in San Francisco. The following year, Los Angeles, San Diego and Philadelphia witnessed three Real Madrid victories. They visited Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York and Philadelphia in 2012, while in 2013 they were in Phoenix, Saint Louis, Los Angeles and Miami, where they won the International Champions Cup in the final after beating Chelsea. Los Angeles, Dallas and Michigan were the destinations in 2014.
Most recent visits
After a one-year absence, Real Madrid returned to the United States in 2016 to play in Ohio, Michigan and New Jersey. The 2017 stay saw the first Clasico outside Spain, which took place in Miami. That year, Madrid also visited Santa Clara, Los Angeles and Chicago. The destinations in 2018 were Miami, Maryland and New Jersey where they took on Manchester United, Juventus and Roma. A year later our team was back in the country for the fourth consecutive summer to play in Houston, Maryland and New Jersey against Bayern, Arsenal and Atlético, respectively.
During the 22/23 pre-season, three years after the previous visit, they played Barcelona in Las Vegas, Club America in San Francisco and Juventus in Los Angeles. They returned to the country last season to take on Milan, Manchester United, Barcelona and Juventus in Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas and Orlando, respectively.