CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Lifelong soccer fan Victor Dumois expressed concern about the US co-hosting the 2026 World Cup after attending a current Club World Cup match in Miami.
“I feel after the Copa America, a bizarre phenomenon has occurred right here,” stated Dumois, who’s from Spain. “There’s those who don’t just like the World Cup being in the US.”
The Copa America championship recreation final yr in Miami was a safety nightmare, with overheated and ticketless fans breaking down the obstacles at Exhausting Rock Stadium to get inside. Finally the sport was performed, though some paying clients by no means have been capable of get to their seats as a result of they have been occupied. Some cited the debacle as one instance of how unprepared the US is to host soccer’s largest event.
Quick-forward to this summer season and the 32-team Club World Cup hosted solely in the US.
Dumois stated safety was tight this time round — nearly to a fault.
“In Spain, it’s totally different, you’ll be able to simply have an Uber or taxi take you proper as much as the stadium,” Dumois stated, sharing his ideas on the Spherical 16 match between Actual Madrid and Juventus. “Right here in Miami, they’ve to depart you exterior and much away. There’s so many layers of safety, it’s an excessive amount of.”
The Club World Cup, which is getting into the quarterfinals this weekend, has served as a tune-up for the US which, together with Canada and Mexico, will host the 2026 World Cup in cities like Miami, Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas Metropolis, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle.
To this point, the membership event has not been well-attended, besides for a handful of matches.
A Spherical of 16 knockout match at Charlotte’s 75,000-seat Financial institution of America Stadium between Fluminense and Inter Milan drew simply 20,030 fans. Stadium officers allowed fans who’d bought higher deck tickets to maneuver right down to the decrease bowl. Even then, the decrease bowl regarded half full.
Empty seats have been a typical sight throughout the nation.
There are number of the reason why.
First, the membership event merely is not as standard because the World Cup, the place gamers are competing for their nations fairly than a membership crew.
The prices — each for video games and journey — have additionally saved some away.
And, for some, there have been lingering issues of potential U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids at matches amid President Donald Trump’s crackdown on unlawful immigration.
The climate hasn’t helped both.
Benjamin Cabral lives in Boston, however his household is from Azoras, an autonomous area of Portugal.
He stated if FIFA hopes to develop the sport in America, a scheduling change is critical. As a result of soccer’s reputation in Europe, many membership matches have been performed in the midst of the day so fans abroad can watch video games on tv or livestream in actual time at evening.
The draw back is gamers have been compelled to play with temperatures above 90 levels Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) whereas a serious warmth wave gripped the States.
“In the event that they’re making an attempt to develop their recreation within the U.S., they should make the video games later,” Cabral stated. “It’s too sizzling out right here for the gamers.”
It hasn’t been simple on fans, both.
“There’s no roof, no screens, not a lot,” stated Carlos Olguin, who made the trek from Mexico to Charlotte to look at Pachuca play Actual Madrid.
Subsequent yr’s World Cup shall be performed throughout an identical time-frame, starting in mid-June and concluding in mid-July.
Pleasure surrounding the present occasion additionally stays a priority.
“The opposite factor within the metropolis is that it needs to be extra ready for the occasion, as a result of there are individuals who don’t even know there’s an occasion and so that you go to a restaurant with the concept there are flags, fans, extra soccer issues and there’s nothing,” Olguin added of the Club World Cup. “The town needs to be extra ready for the occasion, as a result of there are individuals who don’t even know there’s an occasion.”
As for the venues, spectators attending Club World Cup matches supplied differing opinions of American stadiums and host cities main as much as the nation internet hosting the World Cup for the primary time since 1994.
“I’ll be sincere, the U.S. is just not able to host the World Cup,” stated Jeremy Zuniga from South Carolina. “There’s too many individuals coming from South America, Europe, all people.”
Others, like Rogerio Bajos from Peru, really feel in another way.
“I feel it’s been good, we haven’t had any issues,” stated Bajos, who additionally attended a CWC recreation in Miami. “The parking is not any drawback, the safety has been good. General, a stupendous spectacle.”
Humberto Contasta from Miami stated the Club World Cup ought to assist the American co-hosts iron out some points earlier than subsequent summer season.
Daniel Marques, who made the trek from Portugal to Charlotte for the only function of watching Benfica battle Chelsea in a gaggle play match, stated he was impressed total with how the event was run.
Altoe, who grew up watching World Cup matches in Brazil earlier than transferring to the US almost a decade in the past, stated he thinks the US will placed on a superb occasion subsequent summer season.
“I feel the US has all the things, all of the infrastructure to host a World Cup,” he stated. “So we’re excited to have them see all of the fans from totally different locations and have household come round and it is going to be a good time.”
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