World Cup Fan Event History: My Experience

2026 will be the ninth time I have been in country for the World Cup. Some of my memories may have lapsed, and I’m sure we missed major events at earlier World Cups, but this overview should provide a sample of the fan events currently being planned for World Cup 2026.

1994—Although we had to cancel our trip and did not attend a match, we did visit Atlanta the week before the tournament opened. As the headquarters of a major sponsor, Coca-Cola, World Cup advertisements and merchandise were present throughout the city. We were unaware of any plans for watch parties around the USMNT matches. Two years later, there were no organized fan events targeting the US matches at the Olympics.

1998—During the group stage, the central fan site in Paris was sparsely attended, and many bars did not even show the games. There were no US Soccer-organized events for fans. Some US matches were played in stadiums with sponsor-driven fan zones that showed broadcasts of other matches.

2002 – Again, there were some sponsor-related activities in host cities and at stadiums on game days. However, there were no US Soccer or supporter-organized events.

2006 – Although there were many opportunities to watch matches in the bars and US fans spontaneously congregated together in host cities on gamedays, there were still no US Soccer-organized events.

2010 –US fan activities were once again dependent on random gameday meetups, which varied from tail-gate-type activities in Rustenburg to entertainment district gatherings in Pretoria.

2014 – This was the first World Cup with large FIFA-organized Fan Fests, and US Soccer organized night-before and pregame parties. These parties drew large crowds of US fans and many celebrities.

2018—With the USMNT failing to qualify, there were no US Soccer-related activities. However, there were large FIFA Fan Fests in the host cities and gatherings around the US broadcast locations.

2022—In Doha, there was one central official FIFA Fan Fest. It was often crowded, with long lines to enter. US Soccer organized night-before events in coordination with Budweiser for each US match. Although there were no official supporter group-organized events, small groups of fans organized pregame gatherings, pregame events, and stadium meetups.

World Cup 2026 Fan Events

As details for fan events related to USMNT matches at the World Cup 2026, I will post information here.