49 Fun Facts About Real Madrid

Which goalkeeper made nine saves in the 2022 Champions League final?

Thibaut Courtois's nine saves were the most in a final since Opta records began in 2003–04, and one goal was enough for Real's 14th European Cup.

Which king granted Madrid Football Club the title 'Real' in 1920?

Alfonso XIII gave his patronage to several clubs, the first being Deportivo de La Coruña in 1907, which is why Real Sociedad and Real Betis carry 'Real' too.

What colour is Real Madrid's traditional home kit?

All white earned the club its nickname, Los Blancos, and a switch to black shorts in 1925–26 was dropped after a run of poor results.

Real Madrid won their 15th European Cup by beating which club at Wembley?

Borussia Dortmund lost 2–0 at Wembley, and the 15th title was Real Madrid's sixth in eleven seasons.

Which Real Madrid striker scored 38 league goals in 1989–90 to win the Pichichi?

Hugo Sánchez scored all 38 of those goals with a single touch, tying Telmo Zarra's league record as Real won a fifth straight title.

Which forward scored four goals in the 1960 European Cup final?

Ferenc Puskás was 31 when Real Madrid signed him in 1958, after Italian clubs had doubted his age and weight.

Which German club lost the 1960 European Cup final 7–3 to Real Madrid at Hampden Park?

Eintracht Frankfurt had beaten Rangers 12–4 on aggregate in the semi-finals and took an early lead before Real Madrid scored seven.

Which Argentine-born forward led Real Madrid's five-in-a-row team after a disputed transfer?

Alfredo Di Stéfano was due to alternate seasons between Madrid and Barcelona under a mediator's plan, but the deal collapsed and he became Madrid's alone.

Which Manchester United and England star joined Real Madrid in 2003?

David Beckham cost about €37 million and wore the number 23 at Real Madrid, citing his admiration for basketball star Michael Jordan.

Which midfielder retired from club football after Real's 2024 Champions League win?

Toni Kroos set up Dani Carvajal's opener from a corner in his last club match, then retired from all football after Euro 2024.

Which US sports league played its first regular-season game in Spain at the Bernabéu in November 2025?

The NFL game went to overtime, and the Miami Dolphins beat the Washington Commanders 16–13 in front of 78,610 fans.

The Bernabéu is the only stadium to have hosted finals of both the European Cup and which other competition?

The Copa Libertadores second leg between River Plate and Boca Juniors moved to Madrid in December 2018 after Boca's bus was attacked in Buenos Aires.

Which two national-team finals has the Bernabéu hosted?

Euro 1964 ended with Spain beating the Soviet Union 2–1 there, and in the 1982 World Cup final Italy beat West Germany 3–1.

The 1980s home-grown generation of Butragueño, Míchel and Sanchís was known as what?

La Quinta del Buitre, named after Butragueño's nickname 'the Vulture', won five straight league titles but never the European Cup.

Real Madrid ended a 32-year wait for a seventh European Cup in 1998 by beating whom?

Juventus, playing their third straight final, lost 1–0 in Amsterdam to a Predrag Mijatović goal, giving Real their first European title in 32 years.

Whose signing from Barcelona was Florentino Pérez's key election promise in 2000?

Pérez won the election and paid Luís Figo's world-record buyout clause, so Barcelona could not stop the move to their rivals.

What was the name of Pérez's policy of signing a global superstar every summer?

Galácticos were the superstars Pérez promised to sign at a rate of at least one every summer during his first presidency, from 2000 to 2006.

Real Madrid signed which Brazilian from AC Milan in June 2009 for a then-record £56 million?

Kaká's fee was a world record in pounds, but Real broke it themselves within weeks with an £80 million signing from Manchester United.

Which striker left Real Madrid in 2023 as the club's second-highest scorer?

Karim Benzema spent 14 seasons at Real Madrid and won the 2022 Ballon d'Or before joining Saudi club Al-Ittihad on a free transfer.

Who holds Real Madrid's all-time appearance record with 741 games?

Raúl played 741 games across 16 seasons, from 1994 to 2010, and scored 323 goals for the club.

What is Real Madrid's youth academy called?

La Fábrica, 'the Factory', produced Emilio Butragueño, Míchel and Manolo Sanchís, the home-grown core of Real's great 1980s side.

Which title did FIFA give Real Madrid in December 2000, after a vote by FIFA World magazine readers?

Club of the Century went to Real Madrid with 42.35% of the readers' vote, and in 2004 FIFA also gave the club its Centennial Order of Merit.

Whom did Real beat 4-1 after extra time in Lisbon in 2014 to win 'La Décima'?

Atlético led until Sergio Ramos headed a stoppage-time equaliser, and Real scored three more in extra time to win La Décima.

Which goalkeeper's errors helped Real Madrid beat Liverpool 3–1 in the 2018 Champions League final in Kyiv?

Loris Karius was at fault for two of the goals, and five days later doctors found he had a concussion from an elbow reportedly thrown by Sergio Ramos.

Which manager led Real Madrid to three straight Champions League titles from 2016 to 2018?

Zinedine Zidane took over in January 2016 after Rafa Benítez was sacked, and resigned five days after winning the third of those finals.

Whose transfer from Tottenham in 2013 was reported as a world-record fee?

Gareth Bale scored a solo winner against Barcelona in the 2014 Copa del Rey final and an overhead kick in the 2018 Champions League final.

Which club record did Real Madrid set in the 2011-12 La Liga season?

100 points and 121 goals left runners-up Barcelona nine points behind, and Real's goal difference that season was +89.

Which manager, appointed in May 2010, once led four Clásicos in 18 days?

José Mourinho's side beat Barcelona 1–0 in the 2011 Copa del Rey final during that run, winning the trophy for the first time in 18 years.

Whose goal won the 2022 Champions League final against Liverpool, Real Madrid's 14th European title?

Vinícius Júnior turned in Federico Valverde's low cross in the 59th minute in Saint-Denis, and he scored again when Real won the 2024 final.

Which Real Madrid midfielder scored both goals, including a stoppage-time winner, in his first Clásico in October 2023?

Jude Bellingham, wearing Real's number 5, cancelled out İlkay Gündoğan's opener, and his winner completed a 2–1 comeback at Barcelona.

From which club did Kylian Mbappé join Real Madrid on a free transfer in 2024?

Paris Saint-Germain had kept Kylian Mbappé in 2022 with a contract extension, but when it ran out in 2024 he joined Real Madrid on a free.

Which former midfielder was appointed Real Madrid manager in May 2025?

Xabi Alonso arrived from Bayer Leverkusen on a three-year deal but left by mutual agreement in January 2026, a day after losing the Supercopa final to Barcelona.

What financial milestone did Real Madrid reach in 2024?

Real Madrid became the first club to earn €1 billion revenue, and it rebuilt the Bernabéu to turn the stadium into one of its main earners.

What is the name of the derby between Real Madrid and their city rivals?

El Derbi Madrileño set Real's upmarket Paseo de la Castellana home against its rival's working-class support from the south of the city.

Real Madrid's 11–1 win over Barcelona in 1943 came in a cup named after whom?

Francisco Franco's title, the Generalísimo, named the cup from 1939 to 1976, and Barcelona had won the first leg 3–0.

What was thrown at Real Madrid's former Barcelona star from the Camp Nou crowd in November 2002?

A pig's head was spotted among the debris near the corner flag, alongside coins and a knife.

Which two players' rivalry between 2009 and 2018 is considered the most competitive in Clásico history?

Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo both finished as their clubs' all-time top scorers, and Messi outscored Ronaldo 26 to 18 in Clásicos.

What did Real Madrid's crest lose in 1931 under the Second Republic?

The royal crown came off when the Second Republic arrived and the club reverted to Madrid Football Club, and it returned in 1941.

Which airline became Real Madrid's shirt sponsor in 2013?

Emirates took over the shirt from the 2013–14 season, while Adidas, Real Madrid's kit maker since 1998, stayed on.

Which Real Madrid left-back's 1997 free kick against France curved so far that a ball boy ducked?

Roberto Carlos spent 11 seasons at Real Madrid, and French scientists later published research explaining how that shot swerved.

Real Madrid became outright Club World Cup record holders in 2018 by beating which host club 4–1?

Al Ain, the host nation's champions, were the first club from their country to reach the final, and the win was Real Madrid's third Club World Cup in a row.

Whom did Real Madrid beat in the 2000 Champions League final, the club's eighth European title?

Valencia lost 3–0 at the Stade de France in the first European Cup or Champions League final between two clubs from the same country.

Which manager's Real Madrid side set a Spanish record of 22 straight wins in late 2014?

Carlo Ancelotti's run began on 16 September 2014 and ended the year with Real's first FIFA Club World Cup title.

Real Madrid's founders chose their kit colour in honour of which famous English amateur team?

Corinthian, the famous English amateur side, had impressed Juan Padrós on his travels, and its 1910 tour of Brazil inspired São Paulo's Corinthians.

Which Real Madrid coach was let go in 2003, a day after winning the league, and later won the World Cup?

Vicente del Bosque had won the Champions League in 2000 and 2002, and in 2010 he led Spain to their first World Cup, followed by Euro 2012.

Who is second on Real Madrid's all-time appearance list with 725 games?

Iker Casillas made 725 appearances in 16 seasons, from 1999 to 2015, including 152 in the Champions League.

Which club did Real Madrid beat 6–1 when their training-ground stadium opened in 2006, in a 1956 final rematch?

Reims had lost the first European Cup final 4–3 to Real Madrid in 1956, and lost again when the Valdebebas ground opened in May 2006.

Which 2007 film follows fictional striker Santiago Muñez after his move from England to Real Madrid?

Goal! 2: Living the Dream moves Santiago Muñez from Newcastle United to Real Madrid, and it climaxes in a Champions League final against Arsenal at the Bernabéu.

Along with Barcelona and Real Madrid, which club is the third La Liga founder never relegated?

Athletic Bilbao has never been relegated while signing only players native to or trained in the greater Basque Country, a policy dating from 1911.