On Sunday, August 16, 2026, FC Schalke 04 will host the top Spanish club Real Madrid CF to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the VELTINS Arena. Kickoff is at 5 p.m.—members can secure their tickets now at tickets.schalke04.de, and general ticket sales begin on Friday, July 31, at 2 p.m. DAZN will broadcast the match exclusively.
It is—in the truest sense of the word—the crowning finale of the summer preseason for the Royal Blues and the celebration marking the anniversary of Schalke’s home stadium, as the top Spanish team led by head coach José Mourinho takes on Miron Muslic’s squad at the Berger Feld. For Mourinho, this is one of his first games as coach of Real Madrid; it was only in June 2026 that the Spanish record champions announced that the 63-year-old Portuguese would be returning to the club’s sidelines. The VELTINS Arena holds special significance for him: in 2004, as coach of FC Porto, he won the Champions League in the final in Gelsenkirchen against AS Monaco.
For both Schalke 04 and Real Madrid CF, this is their final preseason match before the start of the regular season—the match was organized in close collaboration with S04’s partner agency, Onside Sports GmbH, based in Hamburg. Schalke will play Halleschen FC on Monday (August 24) in the first round of the DFB Cup. For Real Madrid, the friendly at Schalke marks the start of the regular league season in Spain. Since Real Madrid CF has several World Cup participants on its roster who advanced to at least the semifinals of the World Cup, a special rule applies in La Liga. Real Madrid will not begin its league campaign until a week later.
Frank Baumann, Schalke’s Director of Sports, on this special friendly match: “We’re really looking forward to playing our final preseason friendly against such a top-tier opponent. At the same time, we’re convinced that the people of Schalke can’t wait to see such a blockbuster friendly at the VELTINS-Arena. It’s going to be a real soccer celebration.”
All the information you need about buying tickets
Tickets for the friendly match are now available to FC Schalke 04 members at tickets.schalke04.de —each member may purchase up to 04 tickets. VIP tickets can also be purchased directly through the shop. General ticket sales will begin on Friday (July 31) at 2 p.m.
Tickets for fans with disabilities can be reserved by phone at 0209 | 9775 1877 or in person at the Service Center. Any interested fan with a disability must fill out the registration form in preparation for purchasing a ticket. This process only needs to be completed once and does not need to be repeated. Fans whose information—including their severe disability ID—is already on file do not need to re-register.
Online advance ticket sales for fans with disabilities are not yet available for this friendly match, but will be available for Bundesliga games.
