Manchester United will start the 2022 Tour with a match against Liverpool in Bangkok on 12 July 2022.
The stay in Thailand and Australia represents a first full overseas tour since the pandemic and an opportunity to get vital minutes under the players’ belts in preparation for the Premier League opener against Brighton & Hove Albion on 7 August. All of our pre-season games will be shown live on MUTV.
The Reds will start against Liverpool, but how have we fared in other first games whilst away? There have been some mixed results, and plenty of goals, over the years in the opening tour fixture as you can read in our recap of the last 7…
2019: Perch Glory 2-0
Manchester United kicked off Tour 2019 by recording a comfortable 2-0 win over Perth Glory. Summer signing Daniel James was named in the starting XI for his first United appearance. The young Welshman showed glimpses of his quality during a 45-minute outing, playing out wide on the left wing and dribbling directly at his marker on several occasions. Wearing the no.21 shirt, he cut an energetic figure and executed a series of teasing crosses from the byline that almost led to goals. James was later voted our Man of the Match.
But the goals came from Academy graduates Marcus Rashford and James Garner. Rashford finished off a Paul Pogba flick before substitute Garner wrapped things up with a low drive.
2018: Club America 1-1
Manchester United kicked off Tour 2018, presented by Aon, with a 1-1 draw against Club America as Lee Grant made an impressive debut for the Reds in Phoenix.
United had to settle for a draw after falling behind to a Henry Martin header in Phoenix. Juan Mata had earlier hit the woodwork when he grabbed the equalizer by firing past substitute keeper Oscar Jiminez.
2017: LA Galaxy 5-2
Manchester United kicked off Tour 2017, presented by Aon, in impressive fashion thanks to another thrashing of LA Galaxy. It rained goals in California, with Rashford taking just two minutes to get the ball rolling. Mata set up Rashford for his second before Marouane Fellaini converted a pass by Jesse Lingard. United manager Jose Mourinho made 11 changes at the break but the dominance continued, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Anthony Martial nudging the scoreline up to 5-0.The Galaxy pulled a couple of goals back in the final 11 minutes, both from former Barcelona and Tottenham striker Giovani dos Santos.
2016: Borussia Dortmund 1-4
Mkhitaryan’s goal against his former employers was the only bright spot as the Reds suffered a heavy defeat to the Bundesliga outfit, in an International Champions Cup clash in Shanghai. Gonzalo Castro and a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang penalty handed the Germans a 2-0 lead at the interval, before Ousmane Dembele added a third. Mkhitaryan quickly replied, only for Castro to net again with four minutes remaining.
2015: Club America 1-0
Manchester United walked away with a 1-0 win over Club America in their first match of the 2015 International Champions Cup at CenturyLink Field in Seattle.
Morgan Schneiderlin would only register one competitive goal for the Reds but he took just five minutes of his friendly debut to steer in a header from a Mata cross. It proved to be the end of the scoring for Louis van Gaal’s men on the day, with Ander Herrera and Adnan Januzaj going the closest to extending our lead over the Mexicans in Seattle.
2014: LA Galaxy 7-0
The Californians were also our first opponents on the 2014 tour and were well beaten in a one-sided affair as the van Gaal era started in style. The Newcomer Ander Herrera pulled the strings as Wayne Rooney, Reece James and Ashley Young each tallied braces helping Manchester United cruise to a 7-0 victory over the LA Galaxy in front of 84,362 at the Rose Bowl Stadium.
2013: Thai All-Star XI 0-1
The David Moyes era begins with something of a whimper, a 0-1 loss to a Singha All Stars XI. It’s an inauspicious way to start but at least he’s astutely lowered expectations right from the get-go. A 49th-minute goal from the All Stars captain Teeratep Winothai was enough to end Moyes’ hopes of a winning start to a new era for himself and United.
