Seated in a room on the third floor of the Sagamore Pendry hotel in Fells Point on Monday evening, AC Milan forward Noah Okafor smiled as he tried to answer a question about Baltimore, a city he hadn’t been in for more than an hour.

“I saw a little bit out of the window,” he offered, “and it looked really nice.”

International soccer matches — like Milan’s 2-2 shootout win over FC Barcelona Tuesday night at M&T Bank Stadium — create a unique blend of the globe. Tuesday’s friendly brought several soccer stars, including Okafor, a Switzerland native with over a million social media followers, to Baltimore for the first time.

In the midst of a week-long U.S. tour, Milan based its travel out of New Jersey and played matches in New York and Chicago, as well as Tuesday in Baltimore. All in all, Milan spent roughly 30 hours in Baltimore, arriving in town Monday evening and planning to fly back to Italy on Tuesday night after the match.

It gave Okafor and his teammates an introduction to Baltimore and provided Maryland-area soccer fans with a look at two of the most famous soccer clubs in the world. Barcelona is one of the elite sides in La Liga, Spain’s top league, and Milan is a storied Italian club, competing in Serie A.

Mazen Jamiel of Parkville grew up a Barcelona fan in Iraq and has maintained his support since coming to the U.S. as a 13-year-old. In his 18 years in the area, he hadn’t attended M&T Bank Stadium until Tuesday, as he donned a Barcelona flag while heading into the stadium.Wearing striped jerseys of both Milan and Barcelona, the crowd streamed past the normal fixtures of Camden Yards complex — Orioles placards, the Ravens walk — and into the venue. Two Barcelona fans posed in front of the Ray Lewis statue as they headed into the game.

A small section of fans shouted “O” during the Star-Spangled Banner, lest anyone forget that this was Baltimore, but for the game’s duration, it felt like what it was: a matchup of European soccer teams readying for the season.

An announced crowd of 51,337 — the vast majority of which were supporting Barcelona and almost all of whom, it seemed like, participated in the “wave” in the second half — flocked to recently renovated M&T Bank Stadium for the matchup of European titans.

Milan struck first and then second, when Christian Pulisic, dubbed “Captain America” for his status as America’s top soccer player, assisted and then scored a goal within the game’s first 20 minutes. But Barcelona equalized with two goals from Polish star Robert Lewandowski, who was named Man of the Match.

After 90 minutes, the tied competition went to penalty kicks, per exhibition rules. After five attempts, the two sides were tied, sending the overtime rules themselves past their regulation. Finally, on the sixth attempt, Milan scored and Barcelona’s try failed, giving the Italian side the victory.

For Jamiel, who came to Baltimore as a refugee and quickly found solace in soccer, Tuesday marked his first time ever seeing Barcelona, his favorite team, in person.

“It’s like a dream come true. To see European clubs play in the United States is something, it’s very magical, to be honest,” he said. “It’s a magical moment for me to be here.”

It was memorable, too, for AC Milan’s youth club, which was launched in Virginia last year. Dozens of the young players met with the grown Milan team Monday.

“Definitely excited to be here, meet the players and I’m excited to go see AC Milan play,” 10-year-old Spencer said, “and, hopefully win.”

Asked for additional comment, his best friend and fellow 10-year-old Academy member Lukas concurred.

“Just, same thing as him,” he said, before the two lined up, eager to meet the players they often watch on TV.

Tuesday’s friendly marked the first event at M&T Bank Stadium since the first round of a three-year renovation to the venue was completed in recent days. The nearly $500 million upgrade, which is primarily state-funded, but with some Ravens contributions, has included a new beer hall and upgraded suites, with more changes to come ahead of the 2025 and 2026 season.

That construction project could make it difficult, but not impossible, for another international soccer match to return in the coming years. But Ravens president Sashi Brown said Monday he anticipates the stadium hosting more special events in the future, especially after the renovation is complete.

The Ravens signed a new lease with the state of Maryland, the owner of the stadium, in 2023 that slightly changed the rules for special events. In the past, the stadium authority had the option to opt into financially participating in an event — sharing in the profit or loss of the event — but the Ravens now keep all of the net revenue from an event like a soccer game or a concert. Similar to the old lease, and to any Ravens game, the stadium authority retains 8% of all ticket sales as part of the state’s amusement and admissions tax.

Other stops on the Soccer Champions Tour — the name of the European teams’ 2024 visit to America — were sellouts, and although Baltimore’s was not, the crowd was larger than when English Premier League sides Arsenal and Everton faced off in July 2022 in front of 39,245. Baltimore was each team’s final American stop and, shortly after the game, Milan was scheduled to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Perhaps, during their brief time in Charm City, the team chock full of players from all over got to take in a view of the Baltimore harbor or try some local cuisine. That last part, at least, seemed to intrigue Okafor immediately after he arrived in town.

“They have good [crabs] here in Baltimore, no?” he said.