SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) \u2014 Downtown Scranton will soon transform into a soccer destination as the city prepares to host one of Pennsylvania\u2019s official FIFA World Cup 2026 Fan Zones during the tournament\u2019s knockout rounds.<\/p>\n
The Lackawanna County Courthouse Square will become a free outdoor viewing and entertainment venue on July 4, 5, 18, and 19, bringing live World Cup match broadcasts and family-friendly activities to the heart of the city.<\/p>\n
Organizers say the event will feature a massive 13-by-29-foot viewing screen, along with four additional screens spread throughout Courthouse Square so fans can watch the Round of 16 matches, the Bronze Final, and the FIFA World Cup Final.<\/p>\n
The Scranton Fan Zone was selected as one of only three regional Fan Zone sites across Pennsylvania, joining Pittsburgh and Reading. The initiative is being organized in partnership with Philadelphia Soccer 2026 and Visit PA.<\/p>\n
Beyond the matches, visitors can expect a festival atmosphere with soccer-themed activities for all ages, including an inflatable kids zone, obstacle courses, soccer skills clinics hosted by local clubs, and a high-tech LED soccer simulator.<\/p>\n
Live entertainment is also scheduled to begin two hours before the first match each day, with organizers planning additional performances on both a main stage and a secondary stage featuring local musicians.<\/p>\n
Visitors will also be able to enjoy food trucks, downtown restaurants and bars, and a Michelob Ultra Beer Garden for guests 21 and older along North Washington Avenue.<\/p>\n
Curt Camoni, Executive Director of the Lackawanna County Convention and Visitors Bureau, says the event is expected to bring a major economic impact to Northeast Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis gives us a great opportunity to fill our hotel rooms and see economic impact in our shops, our attractions, and our restaurants,\u201d Camoni said. \u201cThese four events not only will bring all of our local community in Northeast PA, I expect to see folks from all of Northeast PA coming to enjoy this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Camoni says Scranton\u2019s location between Philadelphia and New York also makes the city attractive to international travelers visiting for the World Cup.<\/p>\n
Organizers say all events are free and open to the public with no tickets required.<\/p>\n
Scranton Fan Zone Schedule<\/p>\n
Saturday, July 4<\/p>\n
Event Hours: 11 a.m. \u2013 8 p.m.<\/p>\n
Round of 16 Matches at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.<\/p>\n
Sunday, July 5<\/p>\n
Event Hours: 2 p.m. \u2013 11 p.m.<\/p>\n
Round of 16 Matches at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.<\/p>\n
Saturday, July 18<\/p>\n
Event Hours: 3 p.m. \u2013 8 p.m.<\/p>\n
Bronze Final Match at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n
Sunday, July 19<\/p>\n
Event Hours: 1 p.m. \u2013 6 p.m.<\/p>\n
FIFA World Cup Final at 3 p.m.<\/p>\n
Officials say as the world\u2019s biggest soccer tournament arrives in the United States, Scranton is preparing to turn the Electric City into \u201cSoccer City.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) \u2014 Downtown Scranton will soon transform into a soccer destination as the city prepares…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204991,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":["post-204990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}