![\"Fans](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/REG-L-FIFAFanZone931.jpg\")
Fans play a pick-up soccer game before the FIFA Fan Zone World Cup watch party at the Santander Arena on Friday, July 3, 2026. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\nLena McCrae and her father sat quietly and calmly inside the Santander Arena early Friday afternoon, enjoying a bit of air-conditioned serenity.<\/p>\n
Wearing Colombia soccer shirts, they were among of smattering of people enjoying a brief respite from the triple-digit heat outdoors.<\/p>\n
They were relaxed, they were tranquil.<\/p>\n
That wouldn\u2019t last too long.<\/p>\n
Later Friday night, their native Colombia would play a World Cup knockout round game against Ghana. That meant their chill vibes would be shed and replaced with unbridled excitement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe love soccer,\u201d McCrae said. \u201cAnd we love Colombia.\u201d<\/p>\n
They got a chance to celebrate both Friday thanks to a special event in downtown Reading.<\/p>\n
The city has been named an official World Cup 2026 Fan Zone. That means hosting four public watch parties at the arena, with corresponding block parties rocking outside on Penn Street.<\/p>\n
Fans play a pick-up soccer game before the FIFA Fan Zone World Cup watch party at the Santander Arena on Friday, July 3, 2026. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
The first watch party and block party were held Friday, and the second was scheduled for Saturday. The arena was all decked out for the event, with turf and soccer goals set up on the playing surface and six enormous video screens hanging from the ceiling.<\/p>\n
McCrae said she was thrilled to be able to bring her father to check out the inaugural session.<\/p>\n
Her dad, Carlos Ramirez, was visiting from his home in Bogota, Colombia. The watch party gave the Wyomissing woman a chance to show off what greater Reading has to offer, while sharing their passion for soccer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love the energy, it\u2019s constant movement,\u201d she said of why she enjoys the sport. \u201cIt\u2019s like the best sport.\u201d<\/p>\n
She and her family have been watching most of the World Cup games, she said, and were eager to share in the excitement the watch party promised to offer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe love the energy of a crowd,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Ramirez summed up his thoughts simply.<\/p>\n
\u201cSensational,\u201d his daughter translated for him.<\/p>\n
Joshua Nasados was also looking for a shared experience Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWatching with a crowd, there\u2019s a lot of energy,\u201d he said. \u201cIt beats watching at my house.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Joshua](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/REG-L-FIFAFanZone933.jpg\")
Joshua Nosados of Fleetwood shows off his Philadelphia Soccer 2026 T-shirt during the FIFA Fan Zone World Cup watch party at the Santander Arena on Friday, July 3, 2026. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
Nasados of Fleetwood said he\u2019s been a soccer fan for over 15 years. In the lead-up to the 2020 World Cup, his father took him to see the U.S. men\u2019s team play a warm-up match against Turkey in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince then I\u2019ve just been following the sport,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
That passion even led him back down to Philly last week, where he caught a match between Ghana and Croatia.<\/p>\n
Outside, across the street from the arena, Barb Kernen was doing a bit of shopping before heading in to watch the games. She browsed a stand selling soccer T-shirts and soccer balls, looking for the perfect souvenir.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re soccer fans,\u201d she said of herself and her family members who had come out to the watch party. \u201cAnd we\u2019re just excited to be able to hear the cheering crowd, to experience the atmosphere of the crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Barb](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/REG-L-FIFAFanZone930.jpg\")
Barb Kernen of Collegeville checks out the size of a USA T-shirt outside the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel before the FIFA Fan Zone World Cup watch party at the Santander Arena on Friday, July 3, 2026. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
That was the whole idea behind the event.<\/p>\n
At an official ribbon-cutting ceremony earlier Friday inside the arena, Reading Mayor Eddie Moran said the city was thrilled to be able to host an event that promised to bring joys to thousands.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to make sure we can give the experiences we know we can give,\u201d he said. \u201cIt definitely shows Reading is ready, willing and able to create major events.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Reading](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/REG-L-FIFAFanZone924_ffa4fc.jpeg\")
Reading Mayor Eddie Moran cheers after cutting the ribbon to the FIFA Fan Zone Friday at the Santander Arena, a venue where soccer fans can watch World Cup matches. With Moran are from left Bill Gehrman of Philadelphia Soccer 2026; Meg Kane of Philadelphia Soccer 2026; Moran; Berks County Commissioner Dante Santoni; and Garrett Ettinger of Philadelphia Soccer 2026. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
And the watch parties definitely are major. City officials said that 3,000 people had claimed tickets for Friday\u2019s event, and a total of 8,000 tickets had been claimed for all four.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s block party will run from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., with games being shown inside the arena at 1 and 5 p.m.<\/p>\n
The final two watch parties will be on July 18 and 19.<\/p>\n
![\"Young](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/REG-L-FIFAFanZone929.jpg\")
Young soccer fans snack outside the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel before the FIFA Fan Zone World Cup watch party at the Santander Arena on Friday, July 3, 2026. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lena McCrae and her father sat quietly and calmly inside the Santander Arena early Friday afternoon, enjoying a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234931,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,182,139,28,128,130,129,706,2237],"class_list":["post-234930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-berks-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-top-stories-reg","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234930","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=234930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}