Man Utd Finalize 2026 Preseason Schedule With Glamor Friendly

The 2026 World Cup is having a massive impact on preseason plans.

Man Utd are staying close to home once preseason begins. | Steven Paston/PA Images/Getty Images

Manchester United announced a sixth and final preseason match ahead of 2026–27 that will take the club to Poland, with six-time European champions AC Milan the chosen opponent.

The Red Devils have broken with recent tradition in a big way, choosing to stay exclusively inside Europe. Aside from the Covid-19-affected summers of 2020 and 2021, the world-famous club had globetrotted to other continents every year since 2002.

Although United have tended to play at least one preseason match in Europe—the last couple of years have seen the team open the summer in Scotland, while Scandinavia is a frequent destination—the bulk of preseason has usually taken place further away in the United States or east and southeast Asia. The club has also visited Australia and Africa in the 21st century.

In 2026, however, all six matches are in Europe and it’s Scandinavia-heavy—the club has long drawn significant support from the Nordic nations. With Republic of Ireland also already on the schedule, Poland is the fifth different country added to the summer itinerary of Bruno Fernandes and co.

United will face Milan in the Polish city of Wrocław, at the Tarczyński Arena. It is a historic city in the southwest of the country that is Poland’s third largest. The match happens on Saturday, Aug. 15, a week before the scheduled start of the new Premier League season. The stadium was built for use during Euro 2012 and primarily serves as the home two-time Polish champions Śląsk Wrocław.

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Man Utd Preseason Schedule, Opponents—2026

Date	Opponent	Venue
July 18	Wrexham	Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland
July 24	Rosenborg	Lerkendal Stadion, Trondheim, Norway
Aug. 1	Atlético Madrid	Strawberry Arena, Stockholm, Sweden
Aug. 8	Paris Saint-Germain	Ullevi Stadium, Gothenberg, Sweden
Aug. 12	Leeds Utd	Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Aug. 15	AC Milan	Tarczyński Arena, Wrocław, Poland

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Why Man Utd’s Preseason Is in Europe

Almost half the current squad will be at the World Cup. | Marc Atkins/Getty Images

The obvious reason to stay close to home for preseason is the 2026 World Cup, which runs until July 19 and eats up a serious chunk of the summer. Manchester United will have 12 players at the tournament. So, while some like Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Šeško and Harry Maguire will report for training after summer vacation on day one of Michael Carrick’s permanent premiership in early July, plenty of others will still be in national team action.

Lessened travel demands—United are never more than a two-hour, 45 minute-flight away from Manchester this summer—will reduce the strain on those with delayed returns from the World Cup.

Although the club still traveled far in World Cup years in 2006 (South Africa), 2010 (U.S., Mexico), 2014 (U.S.), 2018 (U.S.) and 2022 (Thailand, Australia), the last ‘local’ preseason tour was also a World Cup year in 2002. On that occasion, United played preseason matches in Ireland, England, Norway, Netherlands and Denmark while regrouping the squad after the tournament.

United also opted against leaving Europe in 1998’s World Cup summer, having been to Asia in 1997, and heading back here—via Australia—in 1999.

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Man Utd’s First Overseas Tour

Billy Meredith was the star of a Man Utd team that toured central Europe 118 years ago. | Hulton Archive/Getty Images

In the landscape of soccer history, overseas travel in preseason is still relatively new and only considered commonplace for big clubs since the 1990s, and smaller sides even more recently.

It might then surprise you to know that Manchester United first ventured abroad way back in 1908, six years before the outbreak of World War I.

That summer, as reigning English champions from the 1907–08 season, the team embarked on a four-week tour of central Europe that took in sightseeing in Paris and Zurich enroute to Austria-Hungary, where a team featuring players like Billy Meredith, Sandy Turnbull, George Wall, Dick Duckworth and Harry Moger played six matches.

As much as an opportunity to play soccer internationally in places like Prague, Vienna and Budapest, long before the World Cup or Champions League existed, it was considered a reward for players on working-class salaries, who had mostly never left the U.K. before, to experience travel.

Cruelly, several ended up back in mainland Europe during World War I. Turnbull, scorer of the only goal in the 1909 FA Cup final, sadly never returned, killed at the Battle of Arras in France in May 1917.

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