dpFriday, June 12
USA 4, Paraguay 1
Los Angeles Stadium
Kevin Demoff attended the 1994 World Cup as a teenager, watching the U.S. against Romania in 100-degree weather at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. “There was a guy sitting behind my father and me who was wearing just a Speedo with the Romanian flag on it. He didn’t speak, he just grunted the whole time,” Demoff recalled.
Now the president of team and media operations for Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, Demoff shared the memory while onstage at the official Los Angeles World Cup kickoff party. KSE’s SoFi Stadium will host eight World Cup matches.
“I remember thinking back then in 1994, if only Stan Kroenke would build a shaded, lovely stadium on the west side of Los Angeles, so we don’t have to sit in this heat in 2026,” Demoff said to laughs from a crowd that included FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “But when we started this adventure with FIFA, we wanted to use SoFi Stadium to showcase the best of Los Angeles, the best of Southern California and to truly kick off the World Cup in style.”
His home city has risen to the occasion, with 40,000 packing the downtown L.A. Memorial Coliseum for the start of the official FIFA Fan Festival and people lining up at 4:45 a.m. ahead of the opening of the U.S. Soccer House, a hub for American soccer supporters and sponsors in Venice Beach. And SoFi has indeed been the star of the show, with cheering fans lining up more than five hours in advance of the U.S. men’s national team’s opening match against Paraguay.
Stadium preparations were extensive. A FIFA-mandated sponsor cover-up effort targeted everything from towering SoFi signs to the smallest sponsor reference on a concourse map, and a temporary grass field was installed. Otto Benedict, who oversees facility operations at SoFi, said grass is ordinarily impossible to maintain for the stadium shared by its two NFL teams, the Rams and Chargers.
On matchday, fans flowed past a massive security presence, which included everything from local police to the Coast Guard and the Internal Revenue Service’s criminal investigations unit. They spent hours in line for sponsor activations and official merchandise, and the parking lots hosted a FIFA shop; a two-level, pop-bar from Michelob Ultra; and giveaways by Bank of America, Coca-Cola and others. Many stayed on their feet throughout Team USA’s 4-1 victory over Paraguay.
One might assume the strong turnout was unique to a U.S. game, but another near-capacity crowd arrived three days later for Iran vs. New Zealand. A 17-year-old Demoff, dreaming of what could be, would be thrilled to hear what New Zealand head coach Darren Bazeley told the press about SoFi after his squad’s 2-2 draw with Iran.
“The facilities here are amazing. I’ve been in a lot of football stadiums around the world, and this is the best football stadium I’ve ever been in,” Bazeley said. “There was a great atmosphere, a carnival atmosphere almost.”
When the USA-Paraguay party finally wound down, more than 70,000 fans reluctantly left their seats and emerged into the cool Los Angeles evening. Most departed on foot, arguably the sprawling city’s least favored method of travel. To wherever — hiking to a parked car, a rideshare or a bar to wait out the traffic — SoFi’s crowd moved into the night as one, elated and looking forward to more.
— Chris Smith
Saturday, June 13
Brazil 1, Morocco 1
New York New Jersey Stadium
The ebullient singing began before the train even left the station, and the joyous Portuguese verses needed no translation for the passengers clad in yellow Brazilian soccer jerseys to be fully understood.
At that moment, the acrimony surrounding New Jersey Transit’s much-maligned $98 price tag faded away as strangers joined each other in choruses and embraces. It was a day of surreal scenes, starting with the yellow school buses carrying fans down orange-cone-laden corridors of Manhattan, and West 32nd Street cordoned off between 6th and 7th avenues as a security checkpoint, with Evolv scanners and Amtrak police screening fans at the midpoint of the block. Holafly, an international connectivity company, rated the Meadowlands dead last in cost and convenience among the 16 World Cup venues, a ranking that probably didn’t require a formal study to confirm.
The process was atypical but orderly, with voluminous volunteers and firearm-toting police officers acting as guides. Only a little more than half of the 40,000 train tickets were sold, leading to comfortable travel. FIFA may have overstaffed its volunteers at the venue, with green-shirted attendants stationed every 10 yards around the perimeter of the complex, even far from any fan entrances. The heat radiating off the blacktop was intense; two underworked volunteers were spotted napping under umbrellas on the sun-drenched western side of the stadium.
The atmosphere inside MetLi — er, New York New Jersey Stadium — was electric for the match between Brazil and Morocco, a pair of top-10 teams in FIFA’s rankings and among the very best World Cup group-stage matchups. That it was Saturday night and the locals were all buoyant about the New York Knicks looking to clinch the NBA title in San Antonio only further accentuated the festival feel.
Morocco struck first on a perfect through pass from Brahim Díaz to Ismael Saibari, who chipped the ball over Brazil’s Alisson for a 21st-minute goal. Real Madrid star Vinícius Júnior evened the score for Brazil with a rocket from the wing — the video board noted that it was 114 km/h, a stinging 71 mph for the locals.
The premium hospitality was especially high end, with VIP and VVIP sections accommodating the elite. The menu in at least one luxury suite included chicken scarpariello, cavatelli, steak chops, sushi and Dubai chocolate.
The only on-site fan parking was reserved for the VVIPs, whose guarded lot after the match drew a crowd of voyeurs craning their necks over the opaque fencing. The rest of the sprawling asphalt hosted Fox Sports’ remote studio and more than a dozen brand activations through which fans could listen to a DJ spinning music while perched on a soccer ball-themed Michelob Ultra set, grab a soda from the Coca-Cola Fan Zone or order Doritos loaded nachos topped with butter chicken, esquites or chicken katsu curry.
The return train ride to New York City was only complicated by a source of joint support from Brazilian and Moroccan expats alike: The Knicks winning their first NBA title in 53 years. Streets near Penn Station, Madison Square Garden and a watch party were closed, funneling disembarking soccer fans into shoulder-to-shoulder sidewalk traffic. Five of the World Cup buses were later vandalized during the Knicks celebration, as fans climbed atop and smashed windows. One was set ablaze. In denouncing the damage, a host committee spokesperson also pledged that shuttle service would continue unhindered. The show — and the songs — must go on.
— Joe Lemire
Sunday, June 14
Netherlands 2, Japan 2
Dallas Stadium
FIFA may list Dallas as a host city, but, in usual Texan fashion, it’s always bigger in the Lone Star State. In the D-FW metroplex, visitors from Japan and the Netherlands found themselves navigating a World Cup experience that stretched far beyond Arlington’s temporarily renamed Dallas Stadium.
From Downtown Dallas to Arlington’s Entertainment District — and stretching into North Texas suburbs such as Plano, Frisco, The Colony and Addison — each area saw its neighborhoods and bars brimming with foreigners adopting the identity of Texans. Even if ticket prices made it unaffordable to attend games (one tourist told SBJ the final bill for his trip with his family will be over $50,000), that didn’t deter many from peering on at various watch parties.
FIFA and local organizers attempted to prepare for the challenge of hosting games in Arlington, famously the largest U.S. city without a mass public transportation system. Before the match at DART stations, the metroplex’s public transport, fans compared maps on their phones and asked one another which train line would take them closest to the stadium or their hotels in a region better known for highways than rail.
Fans staying in Dallas and Fort Worth had to take a train to get to a transit hub, where they would then hop on charter buses to the stadium. Though the process was a tad complicated with transport stuffing people like sardines, nationals didn’t seem to mind it. One Japanese fan told SBJ he “loved the experience.”
Indeed, FIFA and Arlington seemed prepared for the sheer influx of fans with parking aplenty, albeit from prices ranging between $10 and $150 depending on proximity. However, an estimated 6,000 Dutch fans and their orange double-decker bus temporarily took over the streets of Arlington during their famous Orange Walk.
Within Dallas Stadium, fans were treated to a thrilling 2-2 tie thanks to Daichi Kamada’s 89th-minute header. After the match, hundreds of Japanese fans continued their tradition of helping cleanup crews by loading garbage into the bags they brought.
Still, one complaint persisted. Though much of the immediate surrounding area to Dallas Stadium has sidewalks, those who chose to save money on parking had an arduous and uncomfortable walk to their cars that was made more difficult from standing up for much of the game. “You’ve got to love these beautiful Dallas sidewalks,” one Dallas native said sarcastically to a Dutch fan on the way back to their cars.
— Irving Mejia-Hilario
Sunday, June 14
Côte d’Ivoire 1, Ecuador 0
Philadelphia Stadium
The night before the city’s opening match between Ecuador and Côte d’Ivoire, the lobby of the Motto by Hilton hotel was bustling with fans in bright yellow Ecuador kits. Located across the street from the local host committee’s office, the Motto’s rooftop taqueria was hosting a watch party for that evening’s Scotland-Haiti game.
For many of those same fans, Sunday started at the city’s FIFA Fan Festival at Lemon Hill in Fairmount Park. While the event centered on a large public viewing area that erupted when Curaçao equalized against Germany — the tournament’s Cinderella team would go on to lose 7-1 — the million-square-foot festival offered a range of attractions, including soccer clinics led by MLS’s Philadelphia Union, a playground, local food trucks and a 10,000-square-foot FIFA Store.
More than 40,000 people passed through the Fan Festival on Sunday alone, bringing the opening weekend total to more than 100,000.
Local landmarks, such as the Liberty Bell and the iconic “Rocky Steps” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, also were swarmed with visitors. The Ecuador fans would later regret draping the Rocky statue atop the steps with a team jersey, unleashing its dreaded curse on La Tricolor.
By midafternoon, the party shifted closer to Lincoln Financial Field, temporarily renamed Philadelphia Stadium. With more available parking than at most other World Cup stadiums, some fans chose to tailgate. Many others took advantage of regular-price subway service to the area, along with free rides home underwritten by Airbnb.
Just over two weeks after Comcast Spectacor and The Cordish Companies cut the ribbon on their more than $20 million expansion of Stateside Live, the dining and entertainment complex was packed with thousands of fans hours before kickoff. While some had purchased premium Match Day Experience packages offered by the host committee, many more filled both the indoor and outdoor spaces as the afternoon match between Japan and the Netherlands was shown on big screens.
While Stateside Live is inside the Philadelphia Sports Complex, it is outside the stadium perimeter, meaning it did not receive FIFA’s “commercially clean” treatment. The Philadelphia host committee, for example, welcomed VIP guests and host city supporters at the Miller Time Beer Hall, named for a top competitor of FIFA sponsor Anheuser-Busch.
The match itself drew a crowd of 68,274 — 50 short of the capacity figure released by FIFA before the competition. Seemingly resigned to a scoreless draw, the largely pro-Ecuador crowd was stunned when Côte d’Ivoire attacker Amad Diallo netted the game-winning goal in the 90th minute.
After the final whistle, Ecuadorian flags were repurposed as umbrellas as lightning flashed and the skies opened.
— Alex Silverman
Monday, June 15
Spain 0, Cabo Verde 0
Atlanta Stadium
The most concentrated host city footprint of the World Cup witnessed one of the tournament’s biggest upsets in debutant Cabo Verde’s 0-0 draw with Spain, the world’s No. 2-ranked side.
In many of the host cities, fan festivals and stadiums are separated by dozens of miles, but not in Atlanta. Its condensed World Cup footprint — Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the FIFA Fan Festival in Centennial Olympic Park are separated by less than a mile — meant the post-match party was carried largely by a healthy Cabo Verdean contingent, but enjoyed equally by those wearing red and gold jerseys of Spanish teen phenom Lamine Yamal. It didn’t die down until several hours after the match.
Big event-hosting infrastructure all residing within the same district, including the stadium, State Farm Arena, a slew of hotels and the park, is a legacy of Atlanta hosting the 1996 Summer Olympics. Perhaps the concentration of World Cup activity made it easier to focus security efforts. Drones buzzed above all four edges of the fan festival, and there was a heavy and highly visible law enforcement presence.
“Atlanta just shows out and knows how to host,” said Allison Kolber, Home Depot’s vice president of integrated marketing, while standing amid the busy fan festival. “There are a lot of bars and restaurants and other hospitality down in this area, and people know how to get down here, know where to go. Right now, it’s proving itself to be really, really valuable. Atlanta looks to be one of the most productive fan fests for customers and brands.”
Much was made about the changes FIFA required of host stadiums, including covering non-FIFA sponsor signage, and selling, in some cases, different beer or soda brands than the stadiums normally would. But there was plenty unchanged at “Atlanta Stadium,” including its one-of-a-kind Mercedes-Benz emblem roof (which will remain closed for the tournament), its copious Coca-Cola signage and machines, and its fan-friendly concessions prices.
While the stadium’s security layer was moved farther away from the venue than it normally would be for NFL games, Evolv tech was still used to screen fans. Plenty of signage was covered, and the stadium’s AT&T-sponsored market on the 300 level was hidden (FIFA is Team Verizon). However, the Atlanta Falcons’ Ring of Fame was left untouched, so any interested Cabo Verdean or Spanish fans could still learn about former Falcons QB Steve Bartkowski while eating their $2 hot dogs.
There was plenty more Atlanta culture for visitors to imbibe. The pre-match line to get into Georgia-born Waffle House wrapped around the block, and it was populated by red and blue jerseys along with Spanish and Portuguese language conversation. Later, inside the stadium, a local HBCU’s marching band drumline energized fans before the match and during hydration breaks.
— Bret McCormick
Tuesday, June 16
Norway 4, Iraq 1
Boston Stadium
The scenes in Boston and Foxborough were exactly what any fan attending a World Cup would hope to experience. If only they weren’t 27 miles apart.
With Iraq and Norway set to kick off their group-stage match at 6 p.m., downtown Boston was alive in the early afternoon. Visiting soccer fans milled about, posing for pictures outside King’s Chapel or with Boston Police officers seated on parked motorcycles, while local professionals took their lunch breaks.
Outside City Hall Plaza, hundreds of soccer fans queued patiently, waiting for the city’s FIFA Fan Festival to open for the day. Its compact footprint is the smallest among the tournament’s official public-viewing sites, with room for up to 5,000 people at a time, but its location in the heart of the city captured Boston’s historic charm while providing easy access to nearby restaurants and pubs.
That evening at Boston Stadium, Norse god Erling Haaland delivered a dazzling performance with two goals in Norway’s first World Cup match in 28 years, while thousands of his countrymen rowed in unison behind the goal. For some in attendance, however, the commute to Foxborough lasted longer than the match itself.
Determined to experience the journey as a visiting fan would, I purchased a $95 ticket for the Stadium Express shuttle-bus service arranged by the Boston 26 host committee and operated by local charter-bus company Yankee Line.
Having arrived at the Canopy by Hilton Boston Downtown just 10 minutes before my 2:40 p.m. departure time, I expected to see some of the Viking-horned Norway fans I had spotted around town lining up to board, but no one else was waiting. My concern was fleeting. At 2:42, a blue coach bus pulled up to the curb and let me aboard. The cushy, air-conditioned bus was already mostly filled with an orderly group of fans, a far cry from the rowdy hooligans I was half-hoping to encounter. I took one of the few remaining empty seats at the rear.
I asked my seatmate, an elderly Norwegian man, about his impressions of America. He told me about the five Fourths of July he spent in the States and the timeshare in Orlando he was hopelessly trying to sell. His daughter and her husband educated me on Norwegian delicacies such as whale steak and sheep’s head, while I provided a crash course on the MLS salary-cap system — a subject worthy of a full dissertation.
About an hour passed when a police-escorted convoy that included the Norwegian team bus and a fleet of white, FIFA-branded Kia SUVs passed us, drawing cheers from many on board. Surely, I thought, we had to be nearing our destination. But we were only halfway there. The bumper-to-bumper, weekday-afternoon traffic was relentless and, much to my seatmate’s chagrin, our driver seemed determined to occupy the right lane the entire way.
Two hours passed by the time we exited the highway, and another half-hour elapsed before we arrived in the oversized parking lot, drawing an exasperated round of applause. From there, my seatmate faced a half-mile walk with his cane to reach the stadium gate, with just 45 minutes remaining before kickoff.
— Alex Silverman
