There are big teams in soccer, and then there’s Real Madrid

There are big-time soccer teams with passionate fan bases on every continent, and Philadelphia has gotten to meet some of them during the Club World Cup.

But almost anywhere you go, only one team is regarded as the biggest.

From its unequaled trophy case to its history of superstars, Real Madrid stands above them all. The 15-time European champions and 36-time Spanish champions have come to town for the first time in 13 years, for Thursday’s Club World Cup group stage finale against Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg (9 p.m., DAZN).

The crowd will no doubt be the biggest the city has seen yet in the tournament: easily over 60,000 and likely close to a sellout. The fans who will pack the stands will come from here, there, and everywhere, as they always do whenever Los Merengues’ famed white shirt is found on a soccer field.

You can try to compare Real to a U.S. sports team, perhaps the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Lakers, or Dallas Cowboys. But it doesn’t really work, and not just because those three gilded franchises have won just one title combined in the last 15 years.

No, the real reason — as sacrilegious as it may be for some Americans to hear — is that Real is bigger than them all.

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If you’ve been following The Inquirer’s Club World Cup coverage, you might recall reading about a study last year by Switzerland’s International Centre for Sports Studies of teams’ fan bases on social media. It showed Brazil’s Flamengo is the most popular team from the Americas, with 54.3 million followers.

Real Madrid was No. 1, and in the organization’s latest analysis earlier this month, it was again.

The grand total: 473.7 million.

Second-ranked Barcelona — Real’s eternal rival — has over 45 million fewer, totaling 427.4. England’s Manchester United is an even more distant third with 233.6. And that is still 3½ times what a Sportico report this month called the most-followed U.S. sports team, the Lakers at 63.8 million. (The top seven teams are all in the NBA, with the Cowboys No. 8 at 20.5 million. The Eagles lead Philadelphia teams, at No. 12 with 16.4 million)

Now you might start to get the idea.

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Two of the team’s most famous chants also measure its impact. The first comes on the way to a win, especially one in dramatic fashion: “Asi, asi, asi gana el Madrid!” This, this, this is how Madrid wins.

It is sung with vigor from the stands of the team’s 84,000-seat Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, in the heart of the city’s fashionable Chamartín district. And you’re just as likely to hear it disparagingly from opposing fans when a controversial call by the refs goes Real’s way. (Perhaps that’s the best way to relate them to teams you know better.)

The other is a line from the club’s anthem, which is a crooner’s ballad instead of a fight song.

“Hala Madrid,” it says, “y nada más.” Hail Madrid, and nothing more. Nor do they need more, having been thrilled over the decades by Cristiano Ronaldo, Brazil’s original Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Hugo Sánchez, and all the way back to Alfredo Di Stefano and Ferenc Puskás.

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There have been decades of Spanish stars, too: all-time appearance leaders Raúl González and Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Fernando Hierro, Emilio Butragueño, and Paco Gento.

And it won’t surprise you that the song has had its share of celebrity singers. That list starts with opera legend Placido Domingo, a Madrid native and lifelong Madridista.

The current Real Madrid squad is as glittering as any of its predecessors. Though French World Cup-winning forward Kylian Mbappé won’t play Thursday as he recovers from gastroenteritis, Philadelphia might be treated to Brazil’s Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo, England’s Jude Bellingham and Trent Alexander-Arnold, Uruguay’s Federico Valverde, and Croatian passing wizard Luka Modrić.

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Fans will also see players with deep roots at the club, and three of them spoke with the media Wednesday night at Lincoln Financial Field. First up was right back and winger Lucas Vázquez, who started in Madrid’s youth academy in 2007 and has spent all but one of his 15 professional seasons with the club.

“I think from the first moment you put on the Real Madrid shirt, you feel incredible,” he said. “I think it’s the greatest pride a footballer can have.”

Next came one of the team’s younger players, forward Gonzalo Garcia. The 21-year-old is another academy product, who made his first-team debut in 2023 and now has a shot to be a regular.

“It’s a dream for me to be here, and be able to wear that shirt with the first team,” he said. “The desire of every youth player is to be able to be part of the first team, and that is always present from the moment you enter the academy.”

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Last up was attacking midfielder Brahim Díaz, a 25-year-old who has already been a journeyman. He started his pro career with England’s Manchester City, moved to Real in 2019, spent 2020-23 at Italy’s AC Milan, then came back to Spain’s capital.

When did he first feel the power of what this club means? His answer was similar to the veteran Vázquez.

“When you put the shirt on is when you feel you are a Real Madrid player, and you feel the importance of the club,” he said. “Every time you put the shirt on, you are in the best club in the world, so you need to show who you are and to put all you have inside [it].”

That is just what Real’s new manager, Xabi Alonso, will want to hear. He’s another of the team’s Spanish legends, having won two Spanish Cups, the league in 2012, and the Champions League in 2014. (He also played in two friendlies at the Linc, in 2011 against the Union and 2012 against Scotland’s Celtic, and said he remembers them.)

“Real Madrid, in football, it means the highest recognition, the highest prestige — because it belongs to football history,” Alonso said. “Wherever you go, you feel that recognition and that support that is all over the world. And that makes Real Madrid great, and that makes Real Madrid pushing always on the edge to get better, and to keep feeling that history, to make it bigger.”

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The 43-year-old has just taken the helm after the team’s first season without a major trophy in a decade, after which longtime boss Carlo Ancelotti departed to take over Brazil’s national team. Alonso’s coaching résumé includes leading Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen to the first Bundesliga title in team history a year ago. Now he aims to lead Real back to the top.

“That’s why I’m here, trying to help take those steps,” he said. “But it’s a privilege, it’s a great honor to be part of this club.”