{"id":151735,"date":"2026-03-03T23:36:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T23:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/151735\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T23:36:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T23:36:07","slug":"nyc-marks-100-days-until-fifa-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/151735\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC marks 100 days until FIFA World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The excitement is building in New York City ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday morning, officials marked 100 days until the tournament kicks off by lighting up the Empire State Building.<\/p>\n

N.Y., N.J. are “preparing to welcome the world”<\/p>\n

Along with mascots Maple the Moose, Zury the Jaguar and Clutch the Bald Eagle, World Cup officials from near and not-too-far gathered to let the world know it’s almost time for the world’s biggest soccer tournament.<\/p>\n

Beyond lighting the New York City icon, FIFA unveiled the tournament poster and a countdown clock in The Shops at Columbus Circle to mark the milestone.<\/p>\n

Alex Lasry, CEO of the FIFA World Cup 2026 New York-New Jersey Host Committee, said the committee is preparing to welcome the world, finalizing fan engagements, security and transportation plans.<\/p>\n

The Federal Transit Administration is investing $100 million in transit systems for host cities.<\/p>\n

“A few million people coming here over the course of 40 days, and we’re expecting over $3 billion of economic impact,” Lasry said.<\/p>\n

“Seventy percent of Americans call themselves soccer fans, and 20% say they’re obsessed,” said JT Batson, CEO and secretary general of the U.S. Soccer Federation.<\/p>\n

Batson said the federation’s focus is three-fold: drive the sport forward, make sure everyone feels part of the experience, and “put our team in the best position to win.”<\/p>\n

Historic year for the FIFA World Cup<\/p>\n

The roster will be announced at an open-to-the-public launch party on May 26 in New York City.<\/p>\n

Team USA will play its first game in Los Angeles on June 12.<\/p>\n

It will be a historic year for the World Cup as it marks the first time it’s being hosted across three nations: \u00a0the U.S., Mexico and Canada<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“I’m so looking forward to it because I think together, the three nations can show how united we can be, irrespective of whatever else is going on in the world,” said Peter Augruso, president of Canada Soccer.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday night, the Empire State Building will boast the colors of the U.S., Canada and Mexico flags in rotation.<\/p>\n

Fans getting excited for FIFA World Cup<\/p>\n

Pele Soccer Times Square boasts walls of World Cup merch. \u00a0<\/p>\n

“Everyone’s getting ready for the World Cup,” sales associate Zaid Hakim said.<\/p>\n

Hakim said choosing his favorite to win is simple.<\/p>\n

“Portugal because I love Ronaldo,” he said.<\/p>\n

MetLife is set to host eight matches<\/a>, including\u00a0the final on July 19<\/a>. The first, Brazil vs. Morocco, kicks off June 13.<\/p>\n

In:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The excitement is building in New York City ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. On Tuesday morning,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151736,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1066,9,24,56,63,65,64,400,14771],"class_list":{"0":"post-151735","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-new-jersey","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-ny","12":"tag-nyc","13":"tag-nyc-headlines","14":"tag-nyc-news","15":"tag-soccer","16":"tag-world-cup"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}