Editorial Standards \u24d8<\/a><\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPhiladelphia is hosting the FIFA Fan Festival, which runs every day through July 19.Fans from around the world gather in the cityThe event is drawing fans from around the world, including Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico and the United States.”I’m from Ecuador, but I’m staying in Jersey right now,” said Ecuador fan Matel Ruis.”It’s just really cool to see all these people from different countries, different cultures coming to celebrate the FIFA and the United States,” said Owen Hill, of Philadelphia.”It’s incredible. It’s, I have family here in Philly, but it’s incredible,” said Oberd Nogueda, who traveled in from Mexico.US fans rally around Christian PulisicFans based in the United States also are showing support for the U.S. Men’s National Team, specifically Hershey-native and USMNT captain Christian Pulisic.”It’s just awesome to represent this area. And we’re super proud of him. So just happy for him, and ready to cheer him on tomorrow night,” said Max Mouer of Philadelphia, wearing a Pulisic AC Milan jersey.Organizers spent years planning the eventOrganizers said they began planning after the United States received the bid to host the World Cup back in 2018 but delved further into planning a few years later.”We started about three years ago, and I know it sounds wild, but we literally start with a blank piece of paper,” said Michael DelBene, executive producer of FanFest. “Everybody came together and decided that this was going to be something Philadelphia was going to do better than everyone else. That’s why we have 39 days, right? We’re the only film festival in the United States going 39 continuous days, even on the rest days.”Mayor Parker says the event is for everyonePhiladelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker kicked off the 2026 FanFest.”No matter your race, your class, your sexual orientation or identity, your zip code, your religion. This FIFA Fan Fest is for you,” said Parker.There are fan events and watch parties throughout Pennsylvania, including in the Susquehanna Valley. A watch party and festival are scheduled for Lancaster on Friday.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tPHILADELPHIA \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Philadelphia is hosting the FIFA Fan Festival, which runs every day through July 19.<\/p>\n
Fans from around the world gather in the city<\/p>\n
The event is drawing fans from around the world, including Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico and the United States.<\/p>\n
“I’m from Ecuador, but I’m staying in Jersey right now,” said Ecuador fan Matel Ruis.<\/p>\n
“It’s just really cool to see all these people from different countries, different cultures coming to celebrate the FIFA and the United States,” said Owen Hill, of Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
“It’s incredible. It’s, I have family here in Philly, but it’s incredible,” said Oberd Nogueda, who traveled in from Mexico.<\/p>\n
US fans rally around Christian Pulisic<\/p>\n
Fans based in the United States also are showing support for the U.S. Men’s National Team, specifically Hershey-native and USMNT captain Christian Pulisic.<\/p>\n
“It’s just awesome to represent this area. And we’re super proud of him. So just happy for him, and ready to cheer him on tomorrow night,” said Max Mouer of Philadelphia, wearing a Pulisic AC Milan jersey.<\/p>\n
Organizers spent years planning the event<\/p>\n
Organizers said they began planning after the United States received the bid to host the World Cup back in 2018 but delved further into planning a few years later.<\/p>\n
“We started about three years ago, and I know it sounds wild, but we literally start with a blank piece of paper,” said Michael DelBene, executive producer of FanFest. “Everybody came together and decided that this was going to be something Philadelphia was going to do better than everyone else. That’s why we have 39 days, right? We’re the only film festival in the United States going 39 continuous days, even on the rest days.”<\/p>\n
Mayor Parker says the event is for everyone<\/p>\n
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker kicked off the 2026 FanFest.<\/p>\n
“No matter your race, your class, your sexual orientation or identity, your zip code, your religion. This FIFA Fan Fest is for you,” said Parker.<\/p>\n
There are fan events and watch parties throughout Pennsylvania, including in the Susquehanna Valley. A watch party and festival are scheduled for Lancaster on Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWS 8 STAGING SYSTEM WAS THERE FOR TODAY\u2019S OPENING DAY. THE WORLD CUP KICKED OFF RIGHT HERE IN…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216948,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9537,94856,29817,13971,2233,83493,1508,41595,2002,94857,94858,13822,94859,94860,94861,28,69,71,70,94862,30270,2812,2236],"class_list":["post-216947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-cherelle-parker","tag-christian-pulisic","tag-colombia","tag-ecuador","tag-fifa","tag-fifa-fan-festival","tag-hershey","tag-jersey","tag-lancaster","tag-matel-ruis","tag-max-mouer","tag-mexico","tag-michael-delbene","tag-oberd-nogueda","tag-owen-hill","tag-pennsylvania","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-u-s-mens-national-team","tag-usmnt","tag-wgal","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216947","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=216947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"WGAL](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769026991_958_wgal.png\")
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