Between July and September 1927, Spanishfootball club Real Madrid embarked on an exhibition tour of the Americas, with the aim of promoting Spanish football across both continents. The tour was one of the first football exhibition tours to be played across two continents.
During the tour, Real Madrid played 16 matches, inclduing five in Argentina, one in Uruguay, two in Peru, one in Cuba, six in Mexico, and one in the United States.[3] Additionally, it's reported that the team travelled to Chile as well.[5]
By 1927, Real Madrid had done two exhibition tours of their own, including in Italy during December 1920 and January 1921,[10] and across Europe (specifically England, France, and Denmark) in August and September 1925.[11]
The tour
The tour was organized by club director José García Echaniz,[12] under the presidency of Luis de Urquijo,[13] with the goal of promoting Spanish football across the Americas. This was considered unusual for the time and created a lot of expectation around the tour.[13]
Real Madrid arrived in Barcelona on 15 June, and were supposed to leave the following day, but a delay gave them the opportunity to watch FC Barcelona face a team from Brussels at Les Corts.[3] Eventually, the team would depart Barcelona on the SS Giulio Cesare,[2] and spent 18 days at sea before arriving in Argentina.[3][13] While on their journey, the team encountered a storm off the coast of Uruguay.[3]
South America
Real Madrid arrived in Buenos Aires in early July, without any of their friendlies being finalized. Additionally, it was reported in Spain that the promoter for the American part of the tour had fled the country after being accused of fraud.[3] Around the time they arrived in Argentina, the Royal Spanish Football Federation fined Madrid 1,000 pesetas because of the tour, and warned them that they were solely responsible for anything that happened while in the Americas.[3]
Real Madrid played their first match of the tour on 9 July 1927,[note 2] where they drew 0–0 against a team made up of players from Buenos Aires at the Estadio Sportivo Barracas,[2] which included 1934 FIFA World Cup winner Raimundo Orsi.[3] On 10 July, the match was repeated with the Argentinians winning 3–2, with both teams observing a minute of silence prior to halftime for the victims of a railway accident in Alpatacal on 7 July.[3] It would take until Real Madrid's third match of the tour to get a win, when they beat Boca Juniors 2–1 on 16 July, before they lost 4–0 to Newell's Old Boys in Rosario the next day.[3][1]
The team then travelled to Uruguay, to face Peñarol, who had recently returned from their own tour of Europe.[14] On 24 July, in front of a crowd of 12,000 people at the Estadio Pocitos in Montevideo, Real Madrid drew 0–0 with the Uruguayan team. Following the match, a journalist for Uruguayan newspaper El País called it the worst match they had seen in 20 years, saying that both Real Madrid were a bad first-division team and Peñarol desperately needed a rest.[15] Afterwards, they returned to Buenos Aires to face Racing Club, where they lost 2–0.[1]
Following the loss to Racing Club, the team left for Peru, where they arrived on 10 August through the Port of Callao aboard the steamship Santa Ana.[16][17][18] The team were welcomed to Peru by a large crowd of fans, alongside Peruvian Football Federation president Alejandro Garland and directors Pedro Ureta and J. Fitzgerald.[17][18] While in Peru, the team stayed at the Gran Hotel Bolívar.[18][16] Real Madrid played two matches in Peru, against teams of players from both Callao and Lima at the Estadio Nacional,[16] with the Peruvian Football Federation deciding the order of the matches.[18] On 14 August, prior to Madrid's match against the team from Callao, an exhibition match between Atlético Chalaco and Alianza Lima was played, with Alianza Lima winning 2–0.[18] Shortly after, Real Madrid beat the Callao team 4–1, with Madrid dominating most of the match. Following the match, the Spanish ambassador to Peru presented the team with the Municipal Cup trophy.[18]
After beating Juventud Asturiana[simple] 2–1 in Cuba on 28 August,[1] Real Madrid arrived in Mexico in early September.[3] Initially, they arrived and docked at the Port of Progreso in Yucatán. Due to the boat being anchored far from the port, José María Peña and Juan Urquizu both decided to get into a small boat and row through the port's shark-infested waters. However, when trying to return to the ship, Peña slipped off the rope he was using to climb back on and fell into the water near the sharks. José María Muñagorri almost jumped in to help him, and had to be held back by his teammates, but in the end, nearby sailors managed to get Peña to safety.[3][20][21]
Real Madrid's final match in Mexico saw them face Club América again, this time with Atlante forward Juan Carreño featuring as a guest player for América.[4] Real Madrid would win 5–3, but the match wouldn't be without controversy, as José María Muñagorri was ejected for getting into a fight with a spectator. Additionally, the Madrid players wouldn't accept the trophy offered to them after the match, citing the 'excessive roughness' of the Club América players.[21]
In the United States, Madrid were originally scheduled to face two teams: Brooklyn Wanderers and Galicia SC. They also tried to schedule other matches prior to leaving Mexico, including against Chicago Sparta and Indiana Flooring, but by the time the team left, they were only set to play Brooklyn Wanderers. During this part of the tour, Real Madrid were sponsored by Nat Agar, who owned the Brooklyn Wanderers and had scheduled other foreign team's visits to the United States.[22] However, Agar would instead give Real Madrid's American match to Galicia, while the team were en route to New York.[22] The day prior to the match, the players were invited to an honorary dinner at the Hotel Pennsylvania in Manhattan.[2][22] In total, only 5000 people attended the match on 24 September, as Real Madrid drew 1–1 with Galicia, with former Spanish diplomat Rafael Casares y Gil, who was the ambassador of Spain to Romania between 1907 and 1908, in attendance.[2][5] Following the match, the New York Times called Real Madrid "A Spanish team" in their headline, and said that 'Galicia were the better team in the first half, but the Spaniards found their rhythm later'.[2]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
When Real Madrid returned to Spain, they competed in the Torneo de Campeones[es], a competition involving the six teams that had won the Copa del Rey by that point, which served as a rehearsal for the creation of La Liga in 1929. Additionally, they signed Pachuco Prats, who had been brought in from Real Murcia for the tour, on a permanent transfer for 20,000 pesetas.[18][23]
The next time Real Madrid returned to the Americas was in 1952, as part of another exhibition tour which included the inagural Small Club World Cup in Venezuela.[24]
This tour would also mark the last time Real Madrid faced Club América until 83 years later in 2010, when Madrid beat them 3–2 in San Francisco.[25]
↑Miguel González, Luis. "Real Madrid turns 106 (III)". Real Madrid C.F. - Official Web Site (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2026.
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