FAN-TASTIC: FIFA Fan Fest Atlanta is a big hit

The 2026 FIFA World Cup has begun, and thousands of fans in Atlanta were thrust into the tournament long before the first game took place in Atlanta on Monday, June 15. The FIFA Fan Fest, which began on Thursday, June 11, the first day of the World Cup, allowed thousands of people to watch matches on a large screen in Centennial Olympic Park. 

Downtown Atlanta was the center of the soccer universe on Monday, the fifth day of the free fan festival surrounding Atlanta’s first involvement in the World Cup. Cabo Verde supporters, dressed in their country’s colors of blue and red, danced and sang along the green space inside Centennial Olympic Park after the smallest country involved in the 2026 FIFA World Cup had just completed a 0-0 draw with Spain, one of the world’s soccer powers. The Cabo Verde supporters looking on from the FIFA Fan Fest watched their country do the impossible. 

On Sunday, June 14, hours before fans began gathering at the park for the Germany and Curacao match (which ended in favor of Germany with a final score of 7-1), Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens stood on a stage inside The CTR and said, “We are right here, right now as the FIFA World Cup is in Atlanta.”

The third and fourth days of the FIFA Fan Fest saw supporters of major soccer powers like Brazil and Germany stream into the park draped in their teams’ colors. The diversity of soccer fandom on display in Atlanta can only be compared to 30 years ago this summer when Atlanta was home to the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.

The second day of the FIFA Fan Fest had a lot to live up to after the first day, which took place on Thursday, June 11, and featured Mexican National Team fans showing up in a big way for El Tri. On Friday, the United States National Team supporters came out in full force as well. Thousands of fans filled the park to watch the United States defeat Paraguay 4-1. The match was the first for the Red, White, and Blue, and for many of the fans, it was an opportunity to have a World Cup moment without having to be at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. 

In a small sample size, just over a week so far, the FIFA Fan Fest have delivered in several ways. Not only are tickets free, but there is plenty of room for fans to set up blankets and chairs for a match-watching experience. Similar watch parties are taking place throughout Metro Atlanta, including at The Battery. Soccer fans are experiencing the World Cup on the Plaza Green in the shadow of the Atlanta Braves’ home turf, Truist Park. 

One of those fans, Michael Krack, came downtown to Centennial Olympic Park from Alpharetta to support the USA. There were plenty of bars in Alpharetta that were showing the match, but Krack wanted to be amongst soccer fans of all kinds. 

“Atlanta has a lot of diversity, and it’s been great to meet so many fans,” he said. 

The first day of the FIFA Fan Fest took place on Thursday, June 11, and thousands of soccer fans flocked to the park to lay down blankets and seek shade under large umbrellas in the afternoon sun, in preparation for the tournament’s opening match: Mexico vs. South Africa from Mexico City. The amount of Mexico jerseys, flags, head scarves, hats, and t-shirts in the crowd gave the watch party -the match was broadcast on a huge television screen inside the park- a pro-Mexico feel.

Not to be outdone, there were fans wearing jerseys from the United States, England, Haiti, Germany, Colombia, Jamaica, Argentina, Ivory Coast, Brazil, France, and South Africa, too.

“I can imagine what previous city leaders must have felt like 30 years ago,” said Dickens from the stage an hour before the match between Mexico and South Africa. Dickens, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, First Lady Marty Kemp, and Atlanta Sports Council President Dan Corso shared the stage during an introduction. The FIFA Fan Fest will offer thousands of fans a chance to gather for soccer matches played across North America, including at nearby Mercedes-Benz Stadium (temporarily named Atlanta Stadium during the tournament).

“We are thrilled to welcome all of our visitors to this great city,” Dickens said.

Moments before the national anthems for South Africa and Mexico were played, there was a quiet that came over the crowd inside the fan fest. After proper respect for the South African National Anthem, the Mexican National Anthem, “Himno Nacional Mexicano,” began. The largely Mexican crowd was loud enough to be heard in Suwanee.

A line in the song goes as follows: “Mexicanos, Al grito de guerra.” That translates to mean, “Mexican, at the cry of war.” Day one of the FIFA World Cup saw Mexico go ahead 1-0 at halftime and up 2-0 after 90 minutes. At the cry of war, Mexico landed the first blow of the World Cup.

Viva Atlanta. Via the FIFA World Cup. Viva the FIFA Fan Fest.

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