Local and visiting soccer lovers alike should flock to downtown Scranton this July when Lackawanna County Courthouse Square becomes a mecca for fans of the sport on the international stage.
Such fans learned Thursday that Scranton, and Courthouse Square in particular, will serve as one of just three “Pennsylvania World Cup Fan Zones” hosting FIFA World Cup watch parties between Independence Day and July 19, the date of the 2026 World Cup Final. Pittsburgh and Reading will host the other fan zones, Gov. Josh Shapiro, Visit PA and Philadelphia Soccer 2026, the nonprofit host committee planning and executing World Cup matches there, announced.
Hosted jointly by the United States, Canada and Mexico, with Philadelphia serving as one of the U.S. host cities, the 2026 World Cup is expected to be the largest international sporting event ever staged and draw millions of fans to North American venues hosting matches. Billions of viewers are expected to tune in from across the globe.
For soccer aficionados across Northeast Pennsylvania and the broader region who aren’t making the trip to Philadelphia or another host city to take in the action, Scranton’s outdoor fan zone on Courthouse Square will feature a stage and massive “LED screen wall” for crowds of up to 5,000 people, a press release notes.
“Sports have a way of connecting us, of making memories, of bringing people together in really wonderful and special ways,” Shapiro said Thursday while announcing the fan zones during a press conference at a Reading hotel. “We now get the chance to make those memories here in this Commonwealth, and importantly, we have an opportunity to bring people together in this Commonwealth.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks during a press conference announcing Pennsylvania World Cup Fan Zones in Pittsburgh, Reading and Scranton on Thursday, March 26, 2026, at the DoubleTree by Hilton, 701 Penn St. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
The press release notes the three fan zones will “amplify and complement Philadelphia’s 39-day FIFA Fan Festival at Lemon Hill Park — extending the World Cup’s energy and economic impact far beyond Southeastern Pennsylvania.”
The free fan zones will offer large-screen broadcasts of FIFA World Cup 2026 Knockout Round matches, live entertainment, interactive soccer fan experiences and more, per the release.
It’s exciting news for local soccer fans, coaches, elected officials and business leaders alike.
Former longtime University of Scranton men’s soccer coach Steve Klingman, who coached the Royals for 22 seasons from the early-1970s to the mid-1990s and currently serves as the university’s assistant athletics facilities manager, touted the Scranton Fan Zone’s potential to galvanize the next generation of soccer players in a region already rich with talent.
“There’s a lot of kids playing, and obviously I hope that it generates a lot of interest in the game,” said Klingman, who also coaches the Abington Heights Middle School girls soccer team. “If this is a really nice event, for young kids it can really make an impression. … You’re looking for things like this, really positive things, to influence kids and get them pointed in the right direction.”
Klingman also said he’s a supporter of kids playing multiple sports.
“And I think this gives a chance for somebody that maybe doesn’t know where he wants to go in terms of athletics — all of the sudden now he sees how great the soccer is internationally and nationally — and it can really influence a boy (or) girl in terms of picking up the sport,” he said.
An aerial view of the Lackawanna County Courthouse and the surrounding streets in downtown Scranton Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
In a statement, Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti said she and other officials are “grateful to Philadelphia Soccer 2026 for recognizing what we’ve always known: Scranton is a city that knows how to show up, welcome people, and create something special.”
“To be selected as an official destination for World Cup fans puts Scranton on a global stage, and it’s something our residents should be proud of,” she continued. “In a year when we’re celebrating 160 years as a city alongside America’s 250th birthday, this recognition means even more. It also means a real boost for our local economy, with more visitors supporting our small businesses, restaurants and hotels.”
“We’re ready to welcome people from around the world, show off who we are, and make sure World Cup fans leave with a great impression of Scranton,” Cognetti said.
In the press release announcing the fan zones, Lackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan said the Scranton zone “gives our community a front-row seat to the excitement of the World Cup at one of the region’s most beautiful outdoor landmarks,” Courthouse Square.
Reached Thursday, Gaughan said he was approached last year about Scranton potentially hosting a fan zone. That prospect becoming reality is a big deal for downtown small businesses and economic development more broadly, he said.
“We’re anticipating thousands and thousands of people from all over the region, and even into New Jersey and New York, to come and spend a couple days in Scranton and in Lackawanna County, (staying) in our hotels, eating in our restaurants, going out for a drink in some of our establishments and enjoying all that we have to offer,” Gaughan said. “It’s going to be a huge benefit for everybody.”
Sharing that view, Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce President Bob Durkin said being chosen as a fan zone site shows that decision makers recognize “Scranton is an exciting downtown” where there’s “so many positive things happening from an economic-development standpoint (and) from a residential-development standpoint.”
He recalled being in New York City’s Times Square during a prior World Cup and witnessing the palpable excitement of fans there.
“Soccer … is such a magnet for people of all different cultures, of all different economic status, that I’m excited for Scranton because this shows what a balanced community we are,” Durkin said. “And it’s going to be fun, it’s going to be raucous.”
“I know how these things are supposed to work and it’s not just going to be a bunch of TVs at Courthouse Square and that’s the draw,” he said. “It’s going to be drawing people from throughout the region, no question about it, and that is is going to pay dividends for all of our restaurants, our boutique retail, our hotels and it’s going to be exciting. And then the other part of it is it’s also going to draw some people into the city who might not otherwise have come to downtown Scranton, and they are going to start to see the kinds of amenities that we have.”
In anticipation of the fan zone announcement, Gaughan said county and city officials have been and will continue discussing how to execute the fan zone concept safely, as with any large event. The first fan zone activities on the square will take place July 4, the day after the county’s annual “Scrantastic Spectacular” Independence Day celebration there.
The massive outdoor screen to broadcast World Cup matches will likely be erected on the North Washington Avenue side of the square, Gaughan said, noting smaller screens may be located in other areas around the square as well.
“So you have so many youth organizations that are really committed to soccer, all the high schools that have soccer teams and there’s soccer clubs, (and) we’re going to get them involved and to participate in this,” he said. “And it’s not just going to be to come downtown and to watch the game. There’s going to be activities. This is going to be a family-friendly event for kids.”
Scranton Fan Zone activities will take place July 4, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; July 5, from 2-9 p.m.; July 6, from 1-11 p.m.; July 18, from 3-8 p.m.; and July 19, from 2-6 p.m.
“We want to promote soccer,” Gaughan said. “We want to promote wellness and health and fitness and the game of soccer overall.”
Jared Montalto of the Reading Eagle contributed to this report