The 2026 World Cup starts this week with matches held across North America from June 11 to July 19. Atlanta is hosting eight games including five group stage matches, two elimination matches, and one semi-final game. I’ve read that city officials are expecting 65,000 people per game. I’ve also read that they anticipate 300,000 visitors to the city, so I’m not sure how that reconciles with 65,000 per game. In any case, that’s a lot of people, and Atlanta has been preparing for several years.
The 2026 World Cup was awarded to the Canada – Mexico – United States bid in 2018. I first started seeing preparations in 2024 when MARTA began renovations on the central Five Points Station downtown. That’s the station that I use for my work commute, so I’ve seen the progress over the last couple of years. Quite honestly, the work doesn’t seem like a vast improvement, just some new tile and ceilings, but maybe the upgrades will be more apparent when the work is complete in 2028. In the meantime, it’s been a maze of plywood barricades for many months.
In addition to updating some of the train stations, MARTA has also installed a new payment system. You used to buy a plastic card that you would refill at machines at each station. Now there is still the option of cards, but you can also use your phone to pay directly from your bank account. I haven’t tried this because I have a monthly commuter card through my work, but Chad will get to try it when we go to a game on June 21st.
One thing I’ve only heard about recently is that MARTA is supposed to roll out a new fleet of 224 train cars. This was originally supposed to happen last year. As recently as last week, the cars still hadn’t been put into play. In fact, the required safety tests hadn’t even been performed. I’m wondering if those cars will make an appearance before the World Cup is over.
I’ve seen other work happening downtown around my office. Statues are being cleaned and fixed up. Streets are being repaved. The park across from my office has had a facelift. The pedestrian boardwalk on Broad Street is getting fixed up and/or replaced. I hear there are new street murals downtown. There’s also a new city park large enough for outdoor concerts, and it will have free screenings of soccer games during the Cup. Since I broke my arm, I haven’t been back to the office so I haven’t seen the downtown landscape lately. It will be interesting to see how things look.
Speaking of going to the office, my company announced that staff would be permitted to work from home on the days that games are held in Atlanta. My office is a few minutes’ walk from the stadium, so everyone’s expecting the downtown neighborhood to be a zoo and that it will be difficult for people to drive to the office. I’m sure plenty of co-workers are excited about the option of extra work days at home, but I immediately thought, “Are you kidding? I want to be right in the middle of things and experience all of the excitement downtown!”
Chad and I have tickets to one of the games, and we plan to go to other events and free screenings during the World Cup. Stay tuned for updates over the next few weeks!
