{"id":215213,"date":"2026-06-10T04:05:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T04:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/215213\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T04:05:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T04:05:13","slug":"countdown-to-world-cup-5-days-until-matches-kick-off-in-south-philadelphia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/215213\/","title":{"rendered":"Countdown to World Cup: 5 days until matches kick off in South Philadelphia"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — World Cup<\/a> gameplay begins Sunday in South Philadelphia<\/a>, where the Philadelphia Stadium is set to welcome an international crowd.<\/p>\n

“This is the largest event the world has ever seen. It’s happening right here in Philadelphia. How lucky is that?!” said Jolyon Bowman, venue director.<\/p>\n

With five days until the first match, organizers say “football fever” has taken over. All eyes will be on Philadelphia as the tournament prepares to broadcast to 175 territories worldwide.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Philadelphia releases parking, transit and security info ahead of FIFA Fan Festival and World Cup<\/a><\/p>\n

Food options inside the stadium will feature international flavors, including Korean shrimp bao buns and beet carpaccio, alongside a classic cheesesteak made with caramelized onions, Cooper Sharp cheese and a seeded roll.<\/p>\n

“We wanted to elevate the service to our guests that were going to be showcasing, and we think we were able to do it,” said James Hennessy, senior executive chef.<\/p>\n

The pitch is also ready, with Kentucky bluegrass cut at least once a day to a precise 22 millimeters using riding mowers.<\/p>\n

“To mow it once it takes about six to seven miles,” said David Sandurski, pitch venue manager.<\/p>\n

Behind the scenes, the Philadelphia Eagles’ locker room has been converted into a space for FIFA press conferences as crews complete final preparations.<\/p>\n

Meg Kane of Philadelphia Soccer 2026 said the city’s character will be on full display.<\/p>\n

“Its diversity, its welcoming nature, and the authenticity of the city, I think that is absolutely going to shine through,” she said.<\/p>\n

With scorching late June and July temperatures, organizers noted this will be the first time in FIFA history that benches on the pitch will be air-conditioned.<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — World Cup gameplay begins Sunday in South Philadelphia, where the Philadelphia Stadium is set to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":215214,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[94279,7211,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-215213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-94279","tag-no","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215213","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=215213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}