{"id":355480,"date":"2026-06-30T07:37:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T07:37:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/355480\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T07:37:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T07:37:27","slug":"sundance-square-draws-huge-crowds-to-watch-the-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/355480\/","title":{"rendered":"Sundance Square draws huge crowds to watch the World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether It\u2019s little kids playing in the fountain or folks seeking shade underneath the trees, people are coming out in the 90-degree weather to watch the World Cup at Sundance Square.<\/p>\n

Sundance Square<\/a> in downtown Fort Worth is hosting soccer viewing parties at the plaza for the entirety of the World Cup. The destination has been hugely popular, and the big crowds have put Fort Worth in the national spotlight.<\/p>\n

\"Democratic Democratic Republic of Congo fans celebrate a win against Uzbekistan during a FIFA Summer of Soccer event at Sundance Square in Fort Worth on June 27, 2026. Elvis Martinez-Cartagena FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM <\/p>\n

More than 7,000 people filled the plaza and surrounding streets for the Mexico vs. South Korea match on June 18, according to Andy Santos, who works at Stretch and Tone, a yoga studio and shop at 302 Main St.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of movement, like we\u2019ve had a lot more people coming in the stores, people from all over the world, which is incredible,\u201d Santos said.<\/p>\n

For Rafferty Berkey these events have been \u201cnothing short of miraculous\u201d for his hot dog truck, Coney Corner, which he has parked at the viewing events.<\/p>\n

\"Carlos Carlos Garza holds up a FIFA World Cup Trophy in front of the Chisolm Trail Mural during a FIFA Summer of Soccer event at Sundance Square in Fort Worth on June 27, 2026. Elvis Martinez-Cartagena FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m super grateful to have the opportunity to just be out here, and to be able to provide food to people,\u201d Berkey said.<\/p>\n

The owners of Hopscotch, Cesar Luna and Corina Duenes, say the watch parties have been great visibility for their business, which sells \u201ctraditional Mexican treats and sweets.\u201d The shop is at 101 W. Third Street, right in the middle of Sundance Square, and has been open since 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor some of the most popular games, people come out, and they support their team, and it has been really good for us, but it has been really wild,\u201d Luna said.<\/p>\n

All the local businesses that spoke to Star-Telegram agreed that Mexico\u2019s team draws the largest crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnybody playing against Mexico, It draws a crowd every time,\u201d said the manager of Risky\u2019s Barbecue, 300 Main St.<\/p>\n

\"A A Fort Worth security guard watches over a crowd of FIFA fans during a Summer of Soccer event at Sundance Square in Fort Worth on June 27, 2026. Elvis Martinez-Cartagena FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM <\/p>\n

The crowd for the South Korea vs. Mexico game on June 18. was so big that Sundance Square gained national attention, and NBC Sports even named the plaza one of the best places in the U.S. to watch the World Cup, according to Ed Krause, the vice president of Sundance Square management.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are seeing why every day: families, local fans, visitors from across the country, and people from around the world are gathering here \u2014 at all hours \u2014 to watch World Cup matches in a setting that reflects what Fort Worth does so well: bringing people together, making them feel welcome, and having fun,\u201d Krause said.<\/p>\n

Krause said that they recently added a third viewing screen to \u201cmake the experience even better for the growing number of fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes it all work is the people \u2014 the fans, families, local businesses, artists, musicians, hospitality teams, public safety partners, and everyone who brings Fort Worth\u2019s culture and character to life,\u201d Krause added.<\/p>\n

Folks watching the Switzerland vs. Canada game on June 25. said they came out to \u201cfeel included in the fun\u201d and added that they weren\u2019t even big soccer fans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Whether It\u2019s little kids playing in the fountain or folks seeking shade underneath the trees, people are coming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":355481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-355480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/355481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}