© FC Bayern
FC Bayern head to the USA in three days to compete in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. fcbayern.com is counting down to departure and getting you in the mood for the big football event of the summer. Today we look at the three cities where Bayern will play their group games.
Cincinnati, Miami and Charlotte are the three American cities where fans can watch Bayern in action in the first stage of the Club World Cup. It means two trips north from the team’s basecamp in Orlando, plus a short hop south through Florida.
Cincinnati, Ohio
© Imago
As with many major cities in the USA, the city of Cincinnati itself has a population of 308,000, far fewer than the metropolitan area, which has a total of over 2.2 million people. Founded in 1788, Cincinnati was an important trading centre on the Ohio River in the 19th century. In the middle of the 18th century, there was a large influx of Germans to Cincy due to the revolutions, meaning that more than half of the inhabitants today still have German roots. It was also these immigrants who played a significant role in the great economic success of the ‘Queen of the West’, such as through beer brewing. The largest Oktoberfest in the USA takes place in Cincinnati, a city that is still very proud of its German roots.
Football (soccer), the number one sport in Germany, has only become more and more popular since the construction of the TQL Stadium and FC Cincinnati's arrival in Major League Soccer in 2019. The sporting excitement in the city is primarily driven by the Cincinnati Reds, the oldest professional baseball team in the country, as well as the three-time Super Bowl participants, the Cincinnati Bengals with star quarterback Joe Burrow. Anyone travelling to Cincinnati for Bayern's group match against Auckland City on 15 June had better pack an umbrella, because in addition to the high humidity, there is something else that is typically German: occasional thunderstorms in the summer months.
Miami, Florida
© Imago
What German immigrants are to Cincinnati's history, Latin American roots are to Miami. The influence of Cuban immigrants in particular cannot be overlooked in the city of over six million people in the US’s southeastern corner. Almost 70 percent of citizens have Latin American roots, coming from Nicaragua, Honduras, Colombia, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Venezuela or Argentina. However, the largest population group is made up of descendants of Cuban immigrants. Little Havana is even a neighbourhood that historically and culturally reflects the influence of the large exile community.
The megacity also has a diverse sports scene. There’s the Dolphins in American football, the Heat in basketball, the Marlins in baseball, the Florida Panthers in ice hockey, who are currently playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Edmonton Oilers, the club of German superstar Leon Draisaitl. In soccer, there’s Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami, who have been playing in the MLS since 2020 and have sparked huge enthusiasm for the sport, especially thanks to their Argentinian superstar. Don’t be surprised if it feels like a home game for Boca Juniors on 20 June, when Argentina's most successful club meet their German counterparts at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
Charlotte, North Carolina
With a population of over 2.6 million, Charlotte is the second largest financial centre in the USA after New York City and has grown at breathtaking speed in recent decades. Numerous companies are based here, the labour market is extremely stable and the cost of living is affordable. As a result, many families have settled here, the cultural scene is lively and the skyline in the financial district is impressive despite all its southern charm.
Sports fans won't miss out either, with three professional teams - the Carolina Panthers in the NFL, the Charlotte Hornets in the NBA and Charlotte FC in the MLS - playing in the country's respective top leagues, after the latter joined Major League Soccer in 2022’s expansion. Charlotte will now be the site of a classic European fixture when Bayern take on Benfica on Tuesday, 24 June.
How to watch
Tickets are still available for Bayern’s games in the US. The German record champions are looking forward to plenty of support from their fans. Head HERE for Club World Cup tickets.
All FIFA Club World Cup matches are being broadcast live and for free by streaming service DAZN, although broadcasters will differ in some countries.
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