Lincoln Financial Field was a cauldron of soccer last week, with four FIFA Club World Cup games giving a taste of the diverse and vibrant atmosphere that will take over the venue during next year’s World Cup.
Italian side Juventus and Morocco’s Wydad played out Philly’s fourth game of the tournament on Sunday, with the side from Turin winning, 4-1, in front of 31,975 fans. The attendance at the Linc has averaged 37,459 with four matches remaining, including a tournament quarterfinal game on the Fourth of July.
What’s been notable about the crowds has been the passion they bring. The lowest attended game so far, around 26,000, sounded like way more, thanks to the fans of Brazilian side Flamengo and Tunisia’s Espérance de Tunisie. The international fan bases have taken over Philly’s landmarks like the Rocky Steps, Reading Terminal Market and parts of the South Philly Sports complex, as well as Center City streets and select subway cars.
Meg Kane, Philadelphia Soccer 2026’s host city executive, said that the noise and celebrations those groups have brought have been louder and more consistent than even she expected, and it has been eye-opening for Philadelphia’s sports fans.
“I was talking to some younger kids today about their first experience at a major elite international soccer event and all they could talk about was how cool the fans were,” Kane said. “I think that speaks to Philadelphia’s passion, its fan base and understanding that we come to ‘fan’ a certain way. But seeing this kind of takes it to a new level. There’s certain things that are very different about the way an international fan base is celebrating their teams.”
After Sunday’s game and ahead of the Phillies’ series clincher against the Mets, a World Cup block party on Citizens Bank Way gave soccer fans a glimpse of what’s to come next year, and also let baseball fans dip their feet into the soccer experience.
The free event was cohosted by Philadelphia Soccer 2026, Wawa Welcome to America and the Phillies — which will host the 2026 MLB All Star Game shortly after the World Cup wraps up in Philly. It offered soccer and baseball skills challenges and activities to build awareness and excitement for their respective events during next year’s semiquincentennial celebrations.
The Club World Cup, which began with some trepidations about poor turnout for its inaugural expanded edition, has brought a mix of vibrant superfans of clubs from far away, local fans coming to see their favorite English or European teams, and soccer enthusiasts taking advantage of what have been relatively affordable tickets.
Ghani El Ouardi came to the stadium complex with a group from Queens. The native of Fez supports Moroccan club MAS Fès, but showed up Sunday to support the rival from Casablanca, and Moroccan soccer.
“Any team that supports the flag of Morocco, we support it,” he said.
Drexel students Owen Layton, Jackson Bello and Dylan De Leon described themselves as first-time football fans ahead of Sunday’s match. Bello convinced his friends to support Juventus, based on his Italian heritage. The trio said they’ve been watching the team’s games and highlights for months to get into the mindset of Juve fanatics.
“We appreciate so much that this is in America for the first time,” Bello said. “We’re just so excited to be here, and it was so affordable and cheap for us to come, and it’s just such an honor to be here.”
Kane expects even more excitement next summer, when an estimated 6.5 million fans will travel into Philly and the other 15 cities across the U.S., Canada and Mexico hosting the World Cup.
“It’s going to be wildly elevated from what we’re experiencing this summer with the Club World Cup, when the FIFA World Cup comes next year,” Kane said. “I think this is a perfect appetizer — an amuse bouche, if you will — for FIFA World Cup ‘26, because what we’re getting to see is how the fans come to celebrate their teams. And these are the club teams. So next year when you marry that national pride with the fan base, and it really is such a historic and legendary tournament that’s coming here. I think the fans are going to be absolutely incredible.”
Kane said the block party’s target audience was Philly residents as well as those coming in for the soccer and baseball games — whether they were fully dialed in about next year’s World Cup, or maybe just soccer curious.
Craig Hahn, a recent Philly transplant from Pittsburgh, came to the game in a United States Men’s National Team jersey, with Juventus player Weston McKennie’s name and number on the back. He came to “soak up the ambience and see some top level players,” American or otherwise. That said, he still made sure to watch the game from the wildest part of the stands — in the Wydad supporters section behind one of the goals.
“It’s like you’re in Morocco, it’s crazy,” Hahn said. “I think the stadium wasn’t quite ready for it.”
Kane said that a benefit of seeing the Club World Cup play out in Philly is that it also reveals some of the issues and concerns that her team and the city can prepare to manage better next summer.
“We will obviously look at everything that has happened over the course of Philadelphia’s hosting of Club World Cup matches and the city, with the Philadelphia Eagles and FIFA, will produce their after-action reports. And there’s a lot of warnings” Kane said. “Part of this is not just an appetizer for how the tournament will feel and the energy of the city, but also for us to recognize and identify other areas where we can strengthen safety and security measures. Yeah, flares are probably a great example of that.”
Michael DelBene, president and CEO of Welcome America, said that seeing the level of excitement and wild celebrations that soccer fans have brought hasn’t made him apprehensive about sharing the summer with an even bigger contingent of that crowd, or feel overshadowed by the soccer festivities.
“Wawa Welcome America is designed to create celebration across the city. Whether you’re a Philadelphian or you’re somebody who’s fortunate enough to be in Philadelphia, if you come and you want to celebrate and you want to have a good time, we welcome you,” he said. “We love the energy that FIFA fans bring. We love the energy that Major League Baseball fans bring.”
Michael Harris, the Phillies’ vice president of marketing and government affairs, pointed out that the Phillies have shown they too can put together a wild atmosphere in South Philly. He said that the team’s main challenge next year won’t come from coordinating the All Star week with the World Cup, but rather with the team’s regular-season games that coincide with the six soccer matches at the Linc. Sunday’s co-hosted block party was just a small part of the collaboration that the three groups, along with others in the city, are doing to make sure 2026 will be a success.
“We really have one chance at this. So, to whatever degree we can collaborate and coordinate to amplify the city, get it on everyone’s radar and leave an incredible impression, that’s what we want to do,” Harris said. “Today’s just a little bit of a preview.”
This Wednesday, Philadelphia Soccer 2026 hosts its last Club World Cup watch party at Two Locals Brewery in West Philly. The venue will be showing Borussia Dortmund against Ulsan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns taking on Fluminense, with special offers and prizes on tap. This event runs from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. and both matches kick off at 3 p.m. Details and registration for that are here.
The Linc’s next match will have English Premier League club Chelsea taking on Espérance de Tunisie on Tuesday at 9 p.m. Philly will host four more games in this tournament, two group stage games and two in the knockout rounds.
Game Notes
Weston McKennie, one of two American players on the Juventus squad, was the team’s captain for the game.
Juventus opened the scoring within the first 10 minutes, after Kenan Yildiz’s low cross took the slightest of deflections off Wydad defender Abdelmounaim Boutouil’s foot, enough to detour it past goalkeeper El Mehdi Benabid. The score was later changed to an own goal.
Yildiz’s second goal didn’t need a kind deflection, though. The 20-year-old Turkish player’s shot from the outside of the box rocketed into the top corner of the goal before Benabid’s hand could get near it.
Wydad found the scoresheet through South African Thembinkosi Lorch’s delicate chip over Michele Di Gregorio. The goal prompted the Moroccan team’s supporters behind the goal to light multiple flares and create a smoky red-grey cloud and the scent of gunpowder inside the stadium while both teams took a conveniently timed hydration break due to the excessive temperatures. Some flares made it onto the field, like the game against Manchester City on Wednesday. The stadium announcement before halftime that the use of flares and pyrotechnics being prohibited only led to more being lit in defiance.
The second half brought rain and some reprieve from the heat and humidity. McKennie was substituted off and United States National teammate never came off the bench.
Juventus came close to a third goal in the 57th minute, with the post denying Andrea Cambiaso’s volley.
Yildiz did make it three for Juve in the 69th minute with a cut back to beat his defender, then a curling shot around the goalkeeper.
Wydad came closest to a second goal in the 91st minute of the game, but Di Gregorio was able to palm the on-target header over the bar.
A Juventus penalty converted by Dusan Vlahovic made the final score 4-1.
