The wait is finally over — the 2026 FIFA World Cup is here.
Massachusetts will host seven games throughout the next two months at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, renamed Boston Stadium for the tournament. Across the region, soccer fans are strutting their team colors.
Many, like Archie McLean, are even wearing tartan kilts.
“It’s quite funny to see some reactions,” said McLean, who’s visiting from Scotland to see his country’s squad take on Haiti at Gillette Saturday night. “A police officer today, he said to me, ‘What’s the outfit for?’ and I was like, ‘It’s the World Cup — Scotland fan!”’
Other Scottish fans haven’t hesitated to show off their pride by packing into bars and even playing the bagpipes.
“The phrase is, ‘No Scotland, no party,’ and it will be like that the next few days. Just watch,” said Malcolm West, who’s also visiting Boston from Scotland.
Overall, state and local officials expect as many as two million soccer fans from around the world to descend on Greater Boston for the tournament. Communities across Massachusetts are hosting watch parties for the tournament, including Chelsea, Cambridge and Worcester. The state is taking the rare step of allowing bars and restaurants to serve alcohol until 3 a.m.
One spot that’s expected to be an especially popular option to watch the games is the FIFA Fan Fest at Boston’s City Hall Plaza.
The festival features a huge screen broadcasting multiple games a day as well as live music and food from local restaurants. Boston World Cup organizers say there have been nearly 150,000 registrations for the festival even though attendance is capped at 5,000 people a day. A lottery system was used to randomly determine who can attend.
As a DJ blasted music from a stage, Fredlin Joseph was among the first people to walk into the Fan Fest after it opened Friday afternoon. Joseph traveled to Boston from his home in Kansas City to see his native Haiti’s national team play in the World Cup for the first time in more than 50 years. He plans to attend each of Haiti’s group play games.
“You have only one lifetime. This doesn’t happen very often,” Joseph said, noting that this World Cup gives Haitians an opportunity to celebrate their country even as it struggles with political and economic instability. “I’m ready to go,” he said.
Other fans tried to enter the festival only to be turned away because they didn’t win a spot via the lottery. Calling FIFA a “lousy organization,” Sergio Castro, who lives in Roslindale, said he wasn’t surprised festival staff didn’t let him in without a pass.
But Castro, who’s from Colombia, said he doesn’t care where he watches the matches. As long as he sees every one, he’ll be happy.
“I retired two years ago. And now I’m going to spend all this time watching soccer,” he said.
GBH’s Genevieve Morrison contributed reporting.
