The futbollers may not have been happy with the pitch, but that didn’t stop the fans from coming -- in record-setting droves -- to Ann Arbor.
According to multiple accounts, a whopping 109,318 packed into Michigan Stadium to take in a friendly between Manchester United and Real Madrid, two of the most recognizable names in international soccer. That number easily surpassed the previous record for a soccer match on U.S. soil, besting the 1984 Olympic final between Brazil and France at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena that drew 101,799.
The world record of 173,850 for a soccer match was set in 1950, for the World Cup final match between host-country Brazil and Uruguay.
For a further reference point, the 2014 NHL Winter Classic at the Big House saw 105,491 in attendance for a professional hockey game. A college hockey game at the stadium was attended by 104,173.
It still, though, doesn’t compare to the Big House record for any sport: the 2013 Notre Dame-Michigan game that saw 115,109 crammed into a stadium with an official capacity of 109,901. That was ans still is the most-attended game in the history of college football.