FC Series Set To Announce Schedule of US Friendlies for Summer 2024

Partner clubs and a match lineup for the Summer 2024 FC Series are expected to be announced this March, marking the fourth consecutive year the event will host top European teams in Central Florida and throughout the United States during the preseason window.

Past FC Series summer events have featured matches in Las Vegas, Charlotte, Chapel Hill and Orlando — including sellouts at Camping World Stadium featuring Premier League rivals Arsenal and Chelsea (2022) and a friendly between global icons Real Madrid and Juventus (2023).

Last summer’s FC Series calendar also featured the U.S. debut of popular Welsh club Wrexham. The Ryan Reynolds- and Rob McElhenney-owned side, subject of the popular FX docuseries Welcome to Wrexham, faced Chelsea in the first-ever international soccer match at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan Stadium, with the Blues and Red Dragons selling out the historic 50,000-seat American football venue in four days.

This year's summer tour announcement builds on the success of last month’s Winter 2024 FC Series, which marked the former Florida Cup’s return to the January window and South American preseason competition. From 2016-20, four top Brazilian clubs (Atlético Mineiro, São Paulo FC, Flamengo and Palmeiras) and one Colombian side (Atlético Nacional) raised the Florida Cup trophy.

Germany's FC Köln and Bayer Leverkusen finished first place and runner-up in the inaugural 2015 event, respectively, with Eintracht Frankfurt and top Dutch clubs Ajax and PSV Eindhoven among the event's other early European participants. Additional top Brazilian clubs featured in previous Florida Cup events include Corinthians, Fluminense, Internacional and Vasco da Gama.

Flamengo, the event’s 2019 champion, completed its 2024 preseason training camp at Osceola Heritage Park near Orlando and defeated Philadelphia Union 2-0 on Jan. 21 at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg in its first stateside exhibition of the tour. The club then hosted an open training Jan. 25 before a 1-1 draw against Orlando City at Inter&Co Stadium on Jan. 27.

Flamengo supporters brought the passion of Rio de Janeiro to the Sunshine State at both Winter 2024 FC Series matches; each game featured a U.S. stadium packed with Brazilian fans, and the latter set a club friendly record at Inter&Co Stadium, with a crowd of 22,678 on hand for the match.

Please stay tuned for additional details regarding this summer’s itinerary. To ensure you receive the latest information on the entire 2024 FC Series schedule, please click here.