The FIFA World Cup in Philly won’t soon be forgotten. Here are 10 major reasons why.
Over the course of three weeks, Philadelphia was the world’s playground as the city and the Linc played host to the biggest sporting event in the world. Here's a look at moments we won't soon forget.
Three weeks of World Cup excitement in Philadelphia came to a close on Saturday, but not before an announced sold-out crowd of 68,324 sat through 100-plus degree temperatures to watch France move on to the quarterfinals following a 1-0 defeat of Paraguay.
When the final whistle blew, it capped Philly’s first-ever hosting of the men’s World Cup in what was just the second time it’s been played on U.S. soil. Over the course of those weeks, Philadelphia became the world’s playground as our parks were used as staging grounds for thousands of fans, our bars and restaurants catered to people from all over the world, and our city landmarks received global attention.
» READ MORE: Despite intense summer temperatures, World Cup fervor still hit a fever pitch in Philly
The moments the World Cup brought were innumerable, but we compiled a list of the Top 10 takeaways as the lights move away from Philadelphia Stadium, and continue at FIFA’s Fan Festival in Lemon Hill, which will keep the party going as the tournament inches closer to a thrilling end at New Jersey Stadium on July 19.
Party on the Orange Line
SEPTA pulled out all of the stops — literally and figuratively — getting thousands of fans to and from Philadelphia Stadium courtesy of both local and express trains on the Broad Street Line that ran frequently and for the most part, safely and efficiently, with scores of transit police and other officials at the stations.
But while SEPTA deserves a job well done, the heroes are the fans who routinely brought the party on the rides to and from the stadium. For just $2.90, fans heading down were subjected to singing, drums, flag waving, and a whole lot of hugging and high-fiving, whether you wanted it or not. The pre-party might have been at FIFA’s Festival or Stateside Live!, but it was also on many of the matchday trips southbound to NRG Stadium.
Rocky statue became World Cup lore
World Cup fans not only embraced Philly culture, but they also embraced our city’s sports culture and its superstitions and no proof of that was bigger than how nations took to the curse of placing a team jersey on the Rocky Statue. Ecuador kick-started the notion, and their team lost, causing the planner of the moment to make a public apology.
Brazil brought its own partition and security detail to keep supporters from putting a kit on Rocky, and Croatia claimed to debunk the curse, announcing they put a jersey on Rocky, but it didn’t matter in their team’s 2-1 defeat of Ghana.
Still, news of our city’s statue went viral and has now become a fan phenomenon, regardless of sport, worldwide.
A second home for the Ivory Coast
The love affair of the Ivory Coast needs to be studied because for the two weeks that the team took up residence at the Hotel DuPont in Wilmington, and trained at WSFS SportsPlex and Subaru Park in Chester, they became family. People cooked special meals for the team, fans were buying their signature bright orange jerseys, and they were yearning for autographs at team training sessions.
In return, the Ivory Coast powered its way into the knockout rounds, with both of its wins coming by way of their matches in Philly against Ecuador and Curacao. Always remember that the team earned its first-ever trip to the knockout stage via a path forged through the Greater Philadelphia Region.
Red, white, and blue on July 4
It wasn’t the red, white, and blue of our nation’s colors, but it was somewhat symbolic that those were the colors of the two nations that faced off in Philly’s final game on a day that celebrated America’s independence.
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On one side, there was France, a nation whose efforts in America’s independence are well-documented, which arrived with a team viewed as one of the best in the world, with arguably the world’s best striker, Kylian Mbappé.
On the other side sat Paraguay, a nation the U.S. men’s national team has had success against not once, but twice in less than a year, a win in its opening match of Group D, and during a friendly at Chester’s Subaru Park last November.
Singing (and shopping) in the rain
Sure, it was hot, muggy, and wet, but France’s first match in Philadelphia against Iraq won’t soon be forgotten. Two storms, one right after the other, brought a soaking rain that littered Philadelphia Stadium, causing an over two-hour rain delay. But while some actually decided to leave, believe it or not, the fans who stayed sang, cheered, and found ways to stay cool and dry.
How? Well, how about ravaging the concourse levels for food, drink, and memorabilia, leaving many concessions out of food and drink by the time the game resumed and the official FIFA store on the main concourse looking like it got hit by a tornado?
» READ MORE: Where were tourists traveling to Philadelphia from for the World Cup?
ALL the color.
It’s tough to put into words how to describe all of the vibrant colors on display during the three weeks of the tournament. Fortunately, a team of Inquirer photographers not only attended every match, but also were around town capturing moments showcasing the rabid fandom and excitement the World Cup delivered.
There to help
They wore neon green, light purple, and dark blue. They were comfortable being in the backdrop, but seemed ready to step up and support at a moment’s notice. In addition to the familiar faces of fan service representatives on any given Eagles gameday, the thousands of FIFA volunteers scattered both in and out of the stadium and at the FIFA Fan Festival brought a level of comfort simply by being there.
But the great part is that to many of them it wasn’t just a job. They too seemed to be soaking in Philly’s moment in soccer’s sun, or dancing during the rains that fell for some of it, too.
And when you remember that mostly unpaid volunteers put in the bulk of the work, toiling for six to eight-hour shifts, just to help in any way they could, then a special hat tip goes to those who made sure the event could remain a memory for hundreds of thousands in attendance.
Brazil vs. Haiti was a vibe.
Probably the one match in Philadelphia where the game didn’t matter, the party started the night before with Brazil fans taking over bars, restaurants and the steps of the Art Museum in advance of their match against Haiti. The next day, whether it was on the train, in the parking lots and once inside the stadium, both Brazilian and Haitian fans alike decided to make the game one big party.
Money was no object in Philly
In what amounted to the most expensive edition of the FIFA World Cup to attend, ever, fans still found a way to pack Philadelphia Stadium. In all, five of the six matches held in Philly were announced as complete sellouts of 68,324 in attendance. Only the match between Ivory Coast and Ecuador didn’t deliver a sellout crowd, and the margin was just 50 people. The average get-in ticket for a group-stage match on secondary market sites in Philly was $703, according to Front Office Sports.
“It’s been an expensive summer,” said Susan Richman, who attended two matches in Philly with six other family members. “I think all in all we’ve spent close to $15,000 [on tickets]? But for us to say that we’ve attended the World Cup in America is something that personally, I’ll always remember.”
Fans becoming friends
One of the things that this tournament has conveyed is that humanity isn’t gone, as much as our social media algorithms would love us to believe. The colors that have mattered throughout the World Cup have had nothing to do with the color of someone’s skin, or where they’re from. The colors that have mattered have been the ones on the jerseys that have passed through Philadelphia Stadium, ones that have allowed us to ask questions of others, to get to learn more about them, their culture, their nation’s history.
It’s why money was no object to be in that moment, why a bucket list was fulfilled. In the end, that commonality undoubtedly found that strangers become friends, and friends become family, using sport as a connective tissue. In the end, that just might be the greatest takeaway from the three weeks in which the world’s greatest game made a pit stop in Philadelphia.
“This is wonderful for Philadelphia and wonderful for America, welcoming everybody into this beautiful country,” Ivory Coast native turned Philadelphian Ahmadou Dia told the Inquirer, recently. “The World Cup, the football itself, brings every country, every single person, together regardless of color. It doesn’t matter what you look like, because on the field or in that stadium, we’re family.”
» READ MORE: Watch: How visiting World Cup fans view the City of Brotherly Love
Honorable mentions: The turf laid down at the bubble field at Fan Festival ... the Bank of America charm bracelets everyone went wild for at Fan Festival ... the VFA-11 and VFA-81 flyover at Philadelphia Stadium on July 4. ... free rides on the Broad Street Line after the game ... Ghana and Paraguay fans remaining in the stadium for over an hour after their matches to soak it all in.
In this World Cup, underdogs are stealing the spotlight, the U.S. men are on a roll, and Philadelphia has not only welcomed the world but has given visitors a crash course on just how real the curse of the Rocky Statue can be.
Join Jonathan Tannenwald, the Inquirer's soccer writer, and host Lisa Carlin, analyst for CBS Sports Golazo, as they dissect the matches, the moments, and more as Philly has its moment in soccer's brightest spotlight. Watch our latest episode right here.
Watch previous episodes:
Episode 1: The Wait is Over!
Episode 2: Groups, Goals, and Glory
Episode 3: Electric Action in Philly
Episode 4: The Knockout Rounds Begin!
