{"id":520194,"date":"2026-07-11T02:05:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T02:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/520194\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T02:05:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T02:05:10","slug":"the-world-cup-transformed-greater-boston-will-it-last","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/520194\/","title":{"rendered":"The World Cup transformed Greater Boston. Will it last?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The scenes over the past month have been indelible.<\/p>\n

The flag-wearing in packed parks and chanting in sweaty bars. The orange traffic cones atop statues of George Washington and Bill Russell. The dancing in the streets despite bouts of blistering heat.<\/p>\n

Even \u2014 remarkably \u2014 the late-night fun.<\/p>\n

The World Cup in Greater Boston has been everything organizers and soccer fans had hoped for. Seven games at Gillette Stadium, the last of which was Thursday<\/a>, made the region a hub for immense joy and inclusiveness for people across the globe. More simply, it put Boston \u2014 long known as a \u201csleepy\u201d city<\/a> \u2014 on the map internationally, as trite as that sounds. Just ask the Scots<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Even locals initially apprehensive about how the event would go have been pleasantly surprised.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not considered a fun place. Usually people consider that we\u2019re kind of cold and not very welcoming,\u201d said Casey Leonard of East Boston. \u201cWe showed the opposite, embracing the fans.\u201d <\/p>\n

Leonard said she\u2019s always been passionate about soccer, so watching the World Cup is nothing novel for her. What has been new is the way she and her family have celebrated the tournament locally over the past couple weeks.<\/p>\n

They co-hosted two watch parties in their neighborhood, bringing together more than a hundred fans. Everyone snacked on pizza and chips as they watched the matches using a projector and a big white sheet.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not get a permit, so we thought maybe we\u2019d get shut down,\u201d Leonard said, laughing. \u201cBut we decided just to do it anyway. And way more people showed up than I thought would, and it was so much fun. Everybody was really excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Rachel Adamsky-Jones gets the Norwegian flag painted on her face outside South Station last month. <\/p>\n

\n Daniel Murphy<\/p>\n

GBH News\n <\/p>\n

Even relative newcomers to the sport couldn\u2019t avoid the contagiousness of the World Cup.<\/p>\n

For Justin Cardarelli of Medford, FIFA video games and a few New England Revolution matches over the years have been the extent of his more recent experiences with soccer. Until now. <\/p>\n

He and his wife, their infant daughter in tow, were among more than 100,000 people who visited the rollicking FIFA Fan Fest on Boston\u2019s City Hall Plaza.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving this tournament here has been great just to kind of introduce it and see how popular it is with everybody else,\u201d Cardarelli said. \u201cReally makes you kind of understand the popularity of the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

The games in Foxborough themselves have been entertaining, too. Especially the scoreless draw between Ghana and England, which sent Ghanaians across Massachusetts<\/a> into a state of euphoria. Gillette Stadium was also one of the few places fans have been able to see generational superstars Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 of France and Erling Haaland of Norway up close.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Iraq fans cheer outside South Station last month. <\/p>\n

\n Daniel Murphy<\/p>\n

GBH News\n <\/p>\n

Of course, there\u2019ve been the more frustrating \u2014 dare I say outlandish \u2014 aspects about the World Cup in Boston. The $1,000 tickets to watch the games at Gillette, which thankfully we no longer have to call \u201cBoston Stadium.\u201d The pricier Commuter Rail rides from South Station, even though the train service did operate smoothly<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All the while, federal immigration detentions have risen across the state<\/a> even as many immigrants hoped the World Cup would serve as a brief reprieve from the fear they\u2019ve lived with for the past year and a half.<\/p>\n

For so many locals who\u2019ve made the United States their adopted home, though, the tournament has been a rare opportunity for their respective diasporas to come together in celebration.<\/p>\n

\"Shirtless<\/p>\n

France fan Ajani Rakotoarimanitra-Bunting dribbles a soccer ball during a game of keep-up after France’s 2-0 victory over Morocco in the FIFA World Cup Quarterfinal on Thursday, July 9 at Patriot Place in Foxborough.<\/p>\n

\n Dan Murphy <\/p>\n

GBH News\n <\/p>\n

On gamedays, Everett turned into a slice of Rio De Janeiro. Town Field in Dorchester looked more like<\/a> parks in Praia, Cabo Verde. In Worcester, local Ghanaians took over<\/a> Worcester Common for the England match, dancing and singing traditional hymns as they celebrated the draw against their former colonizer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I come here, I get to see other Ghanaians around. It feels like home,\u201d Philip Soglo said at the Worcester watch party. \u201cSeeing something like this is really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Morocco native Hamid Ghiouan lifts Exauce Ntikala on his shoulder before the FIFA World Cup Quarterfinal game between Morocco and France on Thursday, July 9 at Patriot Place in Foxborough.<\/p>\n

\n Dan Murphy <\/p>\n

GBH News\n <\/p>\n

The question now is whether Massachusetts can build on all the joy and fun from the past month. Will cities and towns continue to spotlight ethnic communities that don\u2019t normally receive as much attention? Will bars be allowed to keep staying open past 2 a.m.?<\/p>\n

Evan Hardy, a bartender at An Sibin in Cambridge, says the last few weeks show it shouldn\u2019t be a hard decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely been really refreshing to see the camaraderie,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

A security volunteer at South Station in Boston cheers as fans walk by to board the Commuter Rail to Foxborough for a World Cup game on June 16, 2026. <\/p>\n

\n Daniel Murphy<\/p>\n

GBH News\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The scenes over the past month have been indelible. The flag-wearing in packed parks and chanting in sweaty…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520195,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[138,219,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-520194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}