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PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia has known for nearly 18 months that World Cup soccer will come in 2026. Discovering when and how often, as it did Sunday, allows the preparations to focus on a definite point.
In the nearly decade-long relay race from proposal to kick off, Sunday marked a significant handoff. Lincoln Financial Field will host six matches at the 2026 FIFA World Cup: five in the group stage, plus a Round of 16 contest July 4, the country’s 250th birthday. That sets the parameters for more than a month in which soccer will be front and center in the region.
“This is not our first rodeo at a major event,” Meg Kane, the host city executive of Philadelphia Soccer 2026, said Monday. “We recognize though that this is different. This is the largest sporting event in the world, and the timeline for this is so much more extended than anything we’ve done before. But we feel really strongly that we have the teams in place.”
The Linc will host games on June 14, June 19, June 22, June 25 and June 27 in the group stage. That means three weeks in which South Philadelphia will be one of 16 hubs of global soccer attention at the 48-team tournament hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
But the tournament’s footprint will begin well before the first teams arrive, and the organizing committee aims to make it last through the crowning of a champion July 19 at MetLife Stadium.
The stadium district will be the hub, but its influence will extend well beyond. The Linc’s soccer capacity, listed in the bid book at 69,328, puts the city in position to host what it views as six three-day Super Bowls. That may be a bit hyperbolic, but not by much.
Philadelphia Soccer 2026 estimated an economic impact of $460 million to the region (excluding day-of stadium operations), with 500,000 visitors to the city. But those figures stem from a study in Feb. 2020, before underlying economic conditions changed with the COVID-pandemic, and were based on a conservative award of four to five matches.
With six matches and 416,000 available tickets, the committee will reassess that impact this spring.
The committee estimates the tournament will generate 3,500 jobs. It could cost $130-$150 million to stage, and Philadelphia Soccer 2026 has been fundraising and pursuing partnerships with businesses since 2020.
Gregg Caren, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, estimates each match will create 26,000 hotel room nights. With 14,400 rooms in the city, demand will spill over into the collar counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
For context, Caren said the city hosts 18 to 20 citywide conventions yearly with comparable demand, though each World Cup game is on the high side of that range.
From the tourism perspective, Kane views hosting as an, “unprecedented opportunity to run a 40-day informercial about how great our cities are.”
“Our job is to make sure that everybody gets here, has a wonderful time and (that) 2026 doesn’t just prove to be a spike and a peak in the hospitality industry but a new plateau that we can launch,” Caren said. “We’re inviting the world to Philadelphia; we want them all to come back and spend their money for many years to come afterwards.”
Part of that appeal relates to the final.
Philadelphia is something of a frontier, clustered with New York/New Jersey and Boston. The nearest venue to the west is Kansas City, while nearest to the south is Atlanta. It’s an advantageous position for spectators who want to regionalize their viewing. Having the final in North Jersey, as opposed to the other front-runner Dallas, presents economic opportunities.
“We’re absolutely delighted for New York/New Jersey to have received the final,” Kane said. “We view ourselves as a potential auxiliary site to support New York/New Jersey in hosting the final. We see this as an opportunity to keep Philadelphia as an active part of the tournament even past our own matches because the overflow will be so significant.”
Philadelphia won’t know which teams will visit until the draw is conducted. The 2022 World Cup draw was held April 1, though that was for a November start in Qatar.
The last draw before a traditional summer World Cup for Russia 2018 was held the preceding December. Early 2026 will be when teams locate staging camps and schedule pre-tournament friendlies, and Kane anticipates programs could start arriving in late May.
In the meantime, the Linc is in discussions to bring more soccer to Philadelphia, either international teams or preseason club friendlies. It is not hosting any matches in 2024 Copa America.
“There are some discussions happening right now to bring some large international soccer events to Philadelphia,” said Frank Gumienny, Eagles senior vice president and chief operating officer. “We’re always looking to bring the biggest events in the world to Lincoln Financial Field.”
The next two years will be spent sorting out logistics: “safety, security, transportation, mobility” were the four Kane shouted out.
The organizing committee will look to maximize the impact. That means casting a wide net to engage fans and cultural communities in the area that feel connected to the World Cup. It means fan engagement, like an overarching fan zone that will run for the entire three weeks games are here, plus watch parties that Kane hopes to stretch to Lancaster, the Lehigh Valley and maybe as far as Pittsburgh.
And it means being a partner with the other civic events happening in Philadelphia around the semiquincentennial.
“While we focus on the dates of the matches,” Kane said. “The one thing that is really important is Philadelphia is going to feel these matches well in advance.”
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