Spain will open the World Cup season by facing the United States twice. The side coached by Sonia Bermúdez will travel in October to the home of the reigning Olympic champions for a double friendly date between the top two teams in the FIFA rankings.
The first match will be played on Saturday 10 October at Audi Field in Washington D.C., and the second three days later at Subaru Park in Chester, in the Philadelphia metropolitan area.
The Washington match will kick off at 2:30 p.m. local time, 8:30 p.m. in mainland Spain. The Chester game will start on Tuesday the 13th at 7:00 p.m. local time, which means it will be played in Spain at 1:00 a.m. in the early hours of Wednesday 14 October. Audi Field holds around 20,000 spectators and Subaru Park approximately 18,500.
The double date is possible thanks to Spain’s direct qualification for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil. Finishing top of their group allowed the team to avoid the European play-offs, which will be played during the October international window.
Spain won five of their six qualifying matches. After losing to England in London, they responded with a 4-0 win over the English side in Mallorca and sealed their place in Brazil with a 1-6 victory against Iceland in Reykjavík.
For Spain, the current world number one, the trip will mark the start of a season spent preparing the defence of their title. For the United States, second in the rankings and coached by Emma Hayes, the matches will be their final tests before November’s Concacaf Championship, the tournament that will decide the region’s places at the 2027 World Cup.
Four previous meetings
Spain and the United States have met only four times. The Americans won the first three: a friendly played in Alicante in 2019, the round of 16 at that year’s World Cup in France, 2-1, and the 2020 SheBelieves Cup encounter, 1-0.
Spain claimed their first win in the most recent meeting. On 11 October 2022, at El Sadar, goals from Laia Codina and Esther González gave the Spanish side a 2-0 victory.
The October fixtures will be the fifth and sixth duels between the two nations, but only the second and third played on American soil. The only previous meeting between Spain and the United States in the North American country was the 2020 SheBelieves Cup match.
The first of the friendlies will also carry a special meaning for the home crowd. Before the Washington match, the United States federation will pay tribute to Crystal Dunn, recently retired from international football after a career in which she won the 2019 World Cup and Olympic gold at Paris 2024.
By the time the matches are played, just over eight months will remain until the start of the World Cup. Spain will open their season of preparation against the most decorated national team in history and one of the most demanding opponents they could have chosen to begin the road to Brazil.