Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium will host group stage games, knockout rounds and a semi-final game as part of the 2026 World Cup, which soccer fans consider a jackpot result.
“It feels like the maximum outcome,” said Nick Purdy, president of Wild Heaven Beer.
Wild Heaven is a Footie Mob sponsor and draws Atlanta United fans for most games. Purdy was part of the crowd gathered at Underground Atlanta in 1990 when Juan Antonio Samaranch announced Atlanta would host the 1996 Olympics.
“This is easily the biggest thing to happen in Atlanta since then,” said Purdy, as the announcement played out on the big screen television a the Avondale brewery.
“It’s like having something like eight Super Bowls in a month.”
Nearby, on a soccer field being misted with chilly rain, Doug Altizer was monitoring the announcement on his cell phone as he coached Decatur High School’s girl’s soccer team.
“I remember being here when Atlanta United got its start and the excitement then,” said Altizer, “so what’s that stadium going to be like for a world cup match? I can’t imagine.”
Atlanta is among 16 U.S. cities hosting World Cup games.
The others are Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle.
The other cities in North America hosting games are Toronto and Vancouver in Canada and Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey in Mexico.
While the Super Bowl drew about 113 million viewers last year, the World Cup attracts more than a billion, according to FIFA.
For Atlanta, the World Cup will resemble a mini-1996 Olympics, with visitors from around the globe arriving in town to watch games.
The turning point for soccer in this country was in 1994 when the U.S. hosted the World Cup. “I quit my job in 1994 and did nothing but go to World Cup games for a month,” said Altizer, who has played semi-pro for the San Francisco Celtic.
Soccer has grown exponentially since then, said David Harbin, assistant activities and athletic director for the City Schools of Decatur
Harbin, remembers as a grade schooler attending a soccer clinic during the 1996 Olympics taught by Brandi Chastain, and the thrill of that experience.
“No doubt this will have a major impact economically,” he said, “but more importantly than that, for the culture of the city and soccer fans in Atlanta, it’s just tremendous news.”
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