![\"Brett](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/https:\/\/author-service-images-prod-us-east-1.publishing.aws.arc.pub\/wplginc\/d3b079d0-0444-499b-8cb7-.jpeg\")
Brett Knese<\/p>\nPublished:\u00a0May 30, 2026 at 6:57 PM<\/p>\n
MIAMI \u2014 A little rain didn\u2019t dampen spirits Saturday as the city of Miami\u2019s police and fire departments faced off in a friendly soccer match at Curtis Park, part of the city\u2019s buildup to the FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n
The event featured first responders from both departments showcasing their skills on the field in what officials described as a community-building exhibition ahead of the global tournament.<\/p>\n
Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins said she was simply happy to see the departments come together.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will be very happy no matter who wins!\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Karla Fortuni, who is part of the World Cup host committee, said city public safety agencies will play a key role during World Cup events, including fan gatherings at Bayfront Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cCity of Miami Fire and police are really going to be in the bulk of it,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re going to be protecting all of our residents at our fan fest in Bayfront Park.\u201d <\/p>\n
Miami Fire Rescue Lt. Pete Sanchez said firefighters have been preparing for increased responsibilities tied to the tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve been training quite some time and getting ready for it,\u201d he said. \u201cThey take a lot of pride and passion into it.\u201d <\/p>\n
Organizers say the match is intended to strengthen relationships between first responders and the community ahead of the international event.<\/p>\n
Higgins also highlighted the collaboration between the departments.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s especially fantastic to see the collaboration, the camaraderie between these two departments that literally save our residents\u2019 lives when we are in danger or in trouble,\u201d Higgins said.<\/p>\n
Firefighters won the match 4-1.<\/p>\n
\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n
Brett Knese<\/p>\n
Brett Knese joined the Local 10 News team as a general assignment reporter in March 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published:\u00a0May 30, 2026 at 6:57 PM MIAMI \u2014 A little rain didn\u2019t dampen spirits Saturday as the city…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290491,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-290490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}