Everyone is catching soccer fever. Whether or not you know much about the sport (not everyone is a die-hard Liverpool fan), there is plenty to be excited about for this FIFA World Cup 2026 being hosted in North America. USA, Canada, and Mexico will play host to the largest 48-team format, which means more games to view –104, to be precise. The World Cup only happens every four years, and the possibility of it returning to the Americas is unlikely for at least a decade. I believe this year’s World Cup will be more than just sports; I see soccer as a shared global event with an immense impact on the world, culturally, socially, and economically. This inclusion of more countries and more games will connect people across different backgrounds and languages, uniting millions of fans for the love of football.
Previously, World Cup games occurred in eight groups with 32 teams. Now there are 12 groups of four teams, with the top two teams and the eight best third-place finishers advancing to the 32-knockout round. This allows for 104 matches to be spread across 39 days. I think this is a fantastic improvement for more fans to view more games. Record sales are already popping up for specific games. Essentially, more countries are allowed to compete in the games. Countries like Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan are debuting for their first World Cup. A total of eleven United States cities will serve as hosts: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area, and Seattle. Parker senior and o-Captain of the boys’ soccer team Eric Maset claims, “I don’t think there’s any sport that compares to soccer just due to its extreme magnitude of size and the large player and watcher count.” I agree with his statement, as there are so many avenues to view and stream the coverage. FOX/FS1, Telemundo, Univision, Fubo, YouTubeTV, and Sling to name a few.
The World Cup is a global event that brings together nations from all parts of the world. According to FIFA, a record six billion viewers will tune in to this year’s games. This is far above the 126 million viewers for the 2026 Super Bowl, according to Nielsen data. From a cultural standpoint, global audiences add a sense of unity to one’s country. With my background, I’m able to uniquely feel more team spirit while I watch Spain, Croatia, and Peru play. I’ll admit I favor Spanish game days more. It’s truly insane how passions build up in the days leading up to matches – at times with utter joy, and at other moments sheer sadness. History is made, like when Croatia famously reached their first-ever World Cup final in 2018, finishing third after losing to France 4–2. And we cannot forget how crazy one fan was in particular during the 1994 World Cup. The 27-year-old Colombian footballer, Andres Escobar, was murdered (shot 6 times) on his return to Medellin, because he scored an own-goal during the match against the USA. Humberto Castro Munoz, a bodyguard associated with the Colombian drug cartel, was found guilty of killing Escobar. Supposedly high-stakes money was bet on the match, and when it resulted in a loss, Escobar paid the price.
Like the Olympics, the World Cup brings countries together to celebrate their unique strength on the playing field. The stakes are high when players like Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and French baller Kylian Mbappé compete against one another. Their clubs take a break from playing games, and they merge as one on their nation’s team. Indeed, predictions can be made, and favorites are projected to win, but in the end, a yellow card or a foul can alter the fate of a team in minutes. In the 2006 World Cup final, French midfielder Zinedine Zidane headbutted Italy’s Marco Materazzi and was sent off in the 110th minute, resulting in a red card and Italy’s victory.
The economic impact of the World Cup games is massive on the global economy. Record sales are already bursting the market, creating a buzz for the quarterfinals, semi-finals, and the final game. For the USA versus Paraguay game, tickets start at $1900 per seat. Stubhub, a well-known ,reputable ticket resale site, is selling seats as high as $50,000 for the Korea Republic vs. the Czech Republic game. According to FIFA, these 2026 games will produce $80 billion in total economic output. Additionally, almost 800,000 jobs will be created for the games, assisting to boost local economies.
From a social impact standpoint, cities are already adapting to accommodate more people. According to the U.S Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Administration, $100 million has been allocated for transit improvements across various host cities. This investment shows the importance of the unity and diversity aspect, with various countries coming together across the Americas for peaceful celebrations. Soccer acts as a shared language that drives social cohesion, uniting people from different backgrounds, locations, and cultures. Health Albert, Parker senior, and boys’ soccer Co-Captain said, “Soccer has long been a sport that this country neglects on the national stage. We have an opportunity to make this sport mean more to this country and can do so by making it the best in World Cup history.”
In the end, the FIFA World Cup will become more than just a set of football matches. It will tie together economies of all strengths and sizes and enable cultures to merge and mix all in the name of soccer. And for a baller enthusiast like myself, that’s great, especially when there are some crazy, unexpected upsets and underdogs (like in the 2022 World Cup when Morocco became the first African team to make it to the semi-finals). My view on this Cup intensifies in a bold way; that soccer fever can potentially improve certain aspects of the city’s infrastructure and possibly encourage people to explore areas of the world they never even considered visiting, all for the love of this sport.
