Author: Owen Hewitt

Soccer fans wearing red, white, and blue of all kinds braved triple-digit temperatures across Philadelphia on Saturday as the city hosted its sixth and final match of the FIFA World Cup at Philadelphia Stadium, better known as Lincoln Financial Field.

The round of 16 match between France and Paraguay added an international flair to the city’s semiquincentennial celebrations. Before the city launched its fireworks on Ben Franklin Parkway, fans stopped to watch Les Bleus beat Paraguay, 1-0, and advance to the quarterfinals.

The FIFA Fan Festival in Lemon Hill Park closed after the first match of the day between Morocco and Canada, but people across the city found ways to take in the game with other soccer fans.

Live from Independence Hall

FOX hosted its studio show from Independence National Historical Park, using Independence Hall as its backdrop.

Broadcaster Rob Stone sat alongside former U.S. men’s national team players Landon Donovan, Alexi Lalas, and Clint Dempsey for the show, which began at 11 a.m. and ended at 3:30 p.m.

Soccer fans and historical sightseers stood on the lawn across the street from Independence Hall as the show taped, chanting “U-S-A” and an occasional “E-A-G-L-E-S.”

Lots of folks out in front of Independence Hall taking in Fox’s World Cup desk show (and seeking autographs afterward)

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— Owen Hewitt (@oyounothing.bsky.social) July 4, 2026 at 3:51 PM

Max Goldfarb, 27, stood in the crowd in front of the show’s cameras just before it ended in the afternoon. Once the show was over, Goldfarb got Clint Dempsey to sign a pack of FIFA World Cup stickers he purchased from a nearby convenience store.

Goldfarb wore a France T-shirt he bought when he saw Les Bleus take on Senegal at MetLife Stadium on June 16, but said he was planning on watching the team’s round of 16 matchup from his Center City apartment to escape the heat.

“It’s been cool seeing all the fans around, and the energy of the fourth in the city,” Goldfarb said.

Soccer on South Street

A few hundred people watched France’s victory from the 700 block of South Street, which was closed to vehicle traffic for a watch party in front of Brauhaus Schmitz.

The German pub and restaurant set up a large LED screen at the end of the block with long, wooden tables in front of it.

A mix of people dressed in festive American colors and French kits attempted to beat the heat with umbrellas, cooling towels and personal fans, crowding into shady spots on the street. Brauhaus Schmitz set up a misting system in front of its storefront on South Street to try and keep its customers cool.

A few hundred folks are braving the heat on the 700 block of South Street to watch France-Paraguay in front of Brauhaus Schmitz

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— Owen Hewitt (@oyounothing.bsky.social) July 4, 2026 at 5:48 PM

While most of the crowd watching the match were locals, two fans had traveled quite a distance to watch France’s win.

Alex Mar and Axel Pfeffer, natives of Essen, Germany, booked their plane tickets to Philadelphia, where Germany would have played its round of 16 match, before the Germans were upset by Paraguay in the round of 32 on Monday.

Mar and Pfeffer made the trip anyway, arriving to Philadelphia on Saturday. They made Brauhaus Schmitz their first stop after they learned they wouldn’t be able to see Rocky Statue due to the city’s planned Independence Day celebrations.

While they were disappointed to miss a chance to see their country play in the World Cup, the Germans plan on making the most of their trip. They intend to fly to Las Vegas after some more sightseeing in Philadelphia.

Heat like Philadelphia experienced on Saturday is unusual for their home nation, but Mar and Pfeffer seemed unbothered by the temperatures.

“It’s hot, but [we] stay hydrated,” Mar said. “Get in some rooms with air-conditioning, and drink some beer.”

Fête for French Fans

A couple blocks down from Brauhaus Schmitz, French fans packed The Good King Tavern to watch their team advance past Paraguay. As it did for France’s win over Iraq last month, the restaurant opened its upstairs wine bar, Le Caveau, to help accommodate some of the crowd.

Jeff Minors was one France fan waiting to go upstairs before the game started. The Fairmount resident said he started cheering on the French after their run to the World Cup title in 1998, led by Thierry Henry.

Despite there being closer bars to watch the match at, Minors traveled to The Good King Tavern to watch alongside other French fans.

“We just really wanted to experience the French vibe and cheer on France at a French restaurant,” Minors said.

While the FIFA Fan Festival has brought more traffic and parking restrictions into his neighborhood, Minors said he was not bothered by the festivals’ presence.

Through the six matches Philadelphia has hosted, Minors said he appreciated the energy the tournament has brought into the city.

“I think it’s been great for the city,” Minors said. “It’s been, I think, really eye-opening for a lot of people who are visiting, how fun Philadelphia is.”

Joe Krell still remembers getting a call from his brother celebrating after Brandon Graham sealed an Eagles victory with a strip-sack of Tom Brady in Super Bowl LII.

Krell, the vice president of engineering at Comcast, had not seen the play when his brother called. His feed of the game was delayed, and the surprise of the play was spoiled.

Now, Krell is leading the team of software engineers that helps some fans watch games with as little delay as possible.

This summer, the company’s Realtime 4K technology is delivering live action from matches at the FIFA World Cup to Xfinity customers’ TVs roughly 17 seconds after it takes place on the pitch. The broadcast is 20 seconds faster than a standard high-definition stream and two seconds faster than an over-the-air signal, according to Vito Forlenza, Comcast’s vice president of sports entertainment.

“It’s about how we limit that amount of buffering and get those video segments to the device as fast as possible,” Krell said Wednesday from the Comcast Technology Center.

The technology debuted ahead of Super Bowl LX in January, and Krell’s team has continued to develop it (alongside other sports initiatives) in an effort to create a spoiler-free viewing experience.

“Now I don’t have to worry about turning my phone over, or turning it off,” Forlenza said. “Nobody’s going to spoil it on me. I could actually be on social media if I wanted to be and not have the experience ruined. I could have all my notifications on; I could be in all my chats with my friends and family [and] not have the experience ruined. Maybe I’ll ruin it for them.”

New for the World Cup is a feature called “Smart Boost” that allows Xfinity internet customers to automatically prioritize their TV on their server when watching a Realtime 4K broadcast of a World Cup match.

Forlenza said the company got good feedback from customers who used the technology to watch the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics in February.

During the group stage of the World Cup, the customizable multiview function, which was developed by software engineers in Philadelphia, allowed Xfinity customers to take in multiple matches at once. When it launched in 2024, the multiview platform was not customizable, but Krell’s team, after feedback from customers, has engineered it to allow viewers to watch any combination of games across traditional broadcast options and streaming.

“You get something out there, you learn from it, build into it,” Krell said.

Instead of having preset combinations for multiview options, the technology assembles the combination of channels a viewer wants to watch as they request them, allowing Xfinity to offer the service with more channels on a larger scale.

The National Association of Broadcasters recognized Xfinity’s multiview as one of its products of the year for 2026 in April, and in June it won a Stream TV award in the category of innovation in content delivery and distribution.

Philadelphia has a long-standing reputation as an underdog city, but when it comes to hosting the FIFA World Cup, Anne Ryan, Pennsylvania’s Deputy Secretary of Tourism, sees Philadelphia as a front-runner.

Ryan visited the FIFA Fan Festival as it hosted “PA Day” on Saturday, which included visits from a Ben Franklin impersonator, Philadelphia Union mascot Phang and Hersh the Hershey Bar.

“I’m a Philadelphian,” Ryan said. “I do love that underdog mentality, but are we underdogs anymore? We’re ranking [at the] top as one of the best host cities in the country, because of our Fan Fest and our experiences.”

Despite cloudy and rainy conditions, crowds of fans entered the festival grounds again on Saturday for Croatia-Ghana, Philadelphia Stadium’s fifth and final group stage match.

Croatians and Ghanaian supporters were well-represented in the crowd, and both went home happy, despite a 2-1 win for Croatia. Ghana, who advanced to the knockout round as one of the eight best third-place teams, had already secured a round of 32 spot entering Saturday’s match, and Croatia was able to get off the third-place cut line by surpassing Ghana for second.

English fans at the festival went home happy, too, as England finished atop Group L with a 2-0 win over Panama.

While the state office of tourism has not formally measured the economic impact driven by Philadelphia hosting the World Cup, Ryan said the success of the free Fan Festival in Lemon Hill — which has hosted 250,000 fans since opening on June 11 — is a good indicator of how many fans have visited Philadelphia during the tournament.

“The fact that we’ve already had 250,000 attendees here, it’s just insane,” Ryan said at the festival on Saturday. “Some of our original projections were 15,000 [visitors] a day. And then, to have close to 54,000 just last Friday alone, has been fantastic.”

Leading up to the tournament, hotel operators were concerned that the World Cup might not bring in the number of international tourists anticipated due to high ticket prices and concerns over entering the U.S. under the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

Ryan said her office could see through flight data and bookings of Airbnbs and other rental properties that plenty of international fans were traveling to Philadelphia for the tournament.

According to Ryan, visitors on flights from France to Philadelphia International Airport are up 59%, year over year. Passengers from the Netherlands to PHL airport are up 48%, and up 25% from the United Kingdom.

The tourism office also considered the economic profile of the nations Philadelphia was hosting, and how people from those nations like to travel. The World Bank Group classifies three of the nations Philadelphia hosted in the group stage — Haiti, Ivory Coast and Ghana — as “lower middle income” nations as it relates to gross domestic product per capita.

If fans from those nations successfully navigate partial or full travel restrictions to follow their team, they’re more likely to pick a high-capacity rental than a traditional hotel.

“There was so much projection pertaining to the World Cup, like, ‘Is this going to be a flop, because all of our hotels aren’t sold out?,’” Ryan said. “But you have to look at the teams we’re hosting and how they travel. Ghana, Haiti, Curaçao, Brazil, Ecuador — they’re not staying in a boutique hotel in Center City. Our three bedroom-plus Airbnb bookings are up 53%, year over year, for June and July.”

Ryan said overall, in the five-county region surrounding Philadelphia, Airbnb bookings are up 48%.

Data from Amtrak and SEPTA serve as another indicator of visitors coming into the city. Amtrak reported that 500,000 passengers have traveled or are booked to travel through 30th Street Station between June 11 and July 11, and 26,000 passengers boarded SEPTA’s Broad Street Line after Brazil’s 3-0 defeat of Haiti on June 19.

Ryan said the city’s transit system and its initiative to give free rides back from Philadelphia Stadium’s after matches received positive feedback, especially from international visitors unnerved by high transportation costs in other host cities.

“They came, and they’re riding,” Ryan said. “They’re taking SEPTA. And we’ve actually heard good feedback. We did some man-on-the-street interviews with visitors. People [are] really complimenting SEPTA and our buses, and the transit here.”

And despite high ticket costs, another sell-out crowd watched Croatia-Ghana at Philadelphia Stadium (aka Lincoln Financial Field). The World Cup broke its attendance record after Thursday’s slate of matches, with 3,605,357 fans attending matches across the continent entering Friday. After Saturday’s match, 341,620 fans have attended five World Cup matches at the Linc.

While it will take time for the city’s official accounting to come out on hosting the tournament, Ryan suggested the stats and indicators in key areas show the city is positioned to meet, and potentially exceed, its pre-tournament estimation of 500,000 visitors generating $770 million worth of economic impact.

“I’m a betting girl, and I’m going to say for the World Cup, we’re probably going to net out close to 800,000 [visitors],” Ryan said. “And the $770 million in economic impact, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s closer to $900 million, based off of that increase.”

More visitors are likely on the way to Philadelphia because of how the tournament’s group stage shook out. If Germany beats Paraguay on Monday, and France beats Sweden on Tuesday in the round of 32, it would set up a match between the Germans and the French, two star-studded European powers, on July 4 in a round of 16 match at Philadelphia Stadium.

“We’re still waiting to hear who we’re hosting on July 4,” Ryan said. “Let’s see what our hotels and Airbnbs look like after Tuesday.”

While supporters of Curaçao and Ivory Coast were at Philadelphia Stadium (known locally as Lincoln Financial Field) for their match, fans of all allegiances watched from the lawns of Lemon Hill Park at the FIFA Fan Festival.

Both matches in the 4 p.m. window, Ivory Coast-Curaçao and Germany-Ecuador, drew crowds of people at the Fan Fest in the final group stage matches of Group E.

Ecuadorian fans watched on the festival’s secondary screen as their team overcame a Rocky-cursed start to the group stage and advanced to the knockout rounds with a 2-1 win over Germany.

Ivory Coast supporters watched their team secure its first trip to the knockout rounds at a FIFA World Cup with a 2-0 win over Curaçao.

Some fans at the festival planned to stick it out through to the U.S. match against Turkey at 10 p.m., while others were there to take in the festival’s environment briefly.

Ivory Coast to Chestnut Hill

Fans of Les Éléphants came from near and far to watch their team in Philly on Thursday.

Duski Kamagate was born in Abobo, a suburb of Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s largest city. He came to the U.S. to attend Chestnut Hill College and play on its soccer team.

Kamagate, sporting an orange Ivory Coast kit, attended Thursday’s Fan Festival with a few of his teammates from Chestnut Hill.

“I think it’s a great experience, being able to come watch the game, vibe and have fun,” Kamagate said. “I think it’s a good vibe.”

With Ivory Coast up 1-0 at halftime, Kamagate said he was not nervous about the country’s chances of making it to the round of 32.

“We don’t get nervous,” Kamagate said. “We’re used to pressure.”

Victor Tarchala attended the Fan Festival in the same orange Ivorian kit that Kamagate wore, but with far less connection to the country.

Tarchala entered the FIFA ticket lottery for the games at the Linc three times, and was selected in September. He purchased tickets to every match in Philadelphia and has hosted his family from across the country in his apartment in King of Prussia.

Tarchala attended the Brazil-Haiti and France-Iraq matches in Philly, and will attend Croatia-Ghana on Saturday, but gave up his seat to serve as the designated driver for a group of friends on Thursday.

Tarchala said it was an even split within his friend group for which nation to cheer on.

“It’s literally divided, between me and my friends, half and half,” Tarchala said. “The other half really want Curaçao [to win]. We came to this one because the shirt was available.”

Jerry Hill brought an unexpected accessory with him to the Fan Festival.

The English fan traveled to America to take in the World Cup alongside his wife, Pauline. Hill brought a customized English flag paying tribute to Aidan Morris, an American midfielder playing for Middlesbrough, Hill’s hometown team.

Hill said the flag is one of many custom flags he’s made to support Middlesbrough, but since Morris is an American player, Hill wanted to bring it on his journey through the States.

“Within four games, I thought, ‘This kid’s special,” Hill said.

Hill proudly displayed his flag, signed by Morris himself, in front of the main stage on Thursday while wearing a bright red Middlesbrough Hawaiian shirt.

While England did not have a game Thursday, Hill said he wanted to get a feel for the festival’s environment. Hill plans to take in England’s final game of the group stage from the New York New Jersey Fan Festival at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday.

The couple started their American journey in Florida for England’s friendlies, then traveled through Atlanta and Nashville before making a long haul drive to Philadelphia.

After they finished watching Ivory Coast-Curacao, the couple planned to compare a few cheesesteaks at Pat’s and Geno’s.

“My wife will get one, I’ll get one of the other,” Hill said. “We’ll split it in half and see which one’s better.”

Hill does not have tickets to a World Cup match, but he did attend England games in the U.S. when it hosted the World Cup in 1994. He was impressed with how the American game has grown since.

“It was completely different, soccer wasn’t big here then,” Hill said. “We were trying to bring our atmosphere to get the fans behind the team … On the whole, [it’s] completely different now. The U.S., the fans at the game, they’ve got it right.”

Heavy rain might’ve washed out the FIFA Fan Festival a little more than an hour after its opening, but fans of Les Bleus spread out to different corners of the city to watch their side take on Iraq.

A weather delay at halftime brought on by heavy thunderstorms extended the game by a little over an hour, but French supporters were eventually treated to a 3-0 win over Iraq that secured France a trip to the knockout round and pushed them one step closer to winning Group I.

Shapiro visits Fan Festival

Before extreme weather caused it to close for the day, Gov. Josh Shapiro became the latest elected official to visit the FIFA Fan Festival at Lemon Hill Park on Monday afternoon.

Shapiro, sporting a navy blue U.S. Soccer polo, walked the festival grounds before Monday’s first match, between defending champion Argentina and Austria.

“What a unique event and historic moment for our city at this historic juncture of 250 years,” Shapiro said. “To be able to be together and just celebrate one another, celebrate this great sport and enjoy yourself … I think the world needs some more togetherness, needs some more cheer, and this is a great opportunity for that.”

He was greeted by lines of volunteers entering the festival, then followed in Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s footsteps by customizing a charm bracelet at the Bank of America tent.

He chose charms that read “250.”

In a brief news conference in front of the festival stage, Shapiro hailed Philadelphia’s Fan Festival as the best “in the country.”

“This is Philly, man,” Shapiro said. “We know how to do big things. It’s extraordinary to see people come out happy and joyful, cheering for their team. Unlike a typical Philly sports event, our fans aren’t cheering against others. There’s just happiness and joy. … I’m glad that Philly is a welcoming city and welcoming people from all across the world to be here.”

Shapiro stopped to chat with dozens of attendees inside Visit PA’s booth and play a large arcade-style video game with a young fan in a Paris Saint-Germain kit. He asked French fans in line if Argentina’s Lionel Messi or France’s Kylian Mbappé was the better player, and stopped with an Argentina fan to recount Messi’s performance in Argentina’s win over Algeria.

One of the people Shapiro introduced himself to was 18-year-old Esra Asfaw, who had a French flag draped over his shoulders. Asfaw, a George Mason student originally from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, said he did not know who Shapiro was when the Governor introduced himself.

“I was so surprised,” Asfaw said.

Asfaw traveled up from Virginia to Philadelphia to see Les Bleus face Iraq at Lincoln Financial Field. He paid $1,089 on the resale market for his 200-level seats. Asfaw said he was not worried about the outcome of the match, instead fretting about the weather.

“Maybe the match might get delayed,” Asfaw said. “That’s the only thing I’m worried about. If it rains and they play, then that’s enough for me.”

Rain routinely doused Philadelphia throughout Monday. A heavy storm led the Fan Festival to turn off the broadcast of Argentina-Austria around 1:40 p.m., less than two hours after the festival opened to the public.

Festival goers were asked to evacuate the grounds as a mid-afternoon storm approached, and the area was drenched by the time Argentina and Austria reached halftime. Many of the festival attendees sought refuge in the welcome center tent set up along Kelly Drive, streaming the Argentina match from their phones.

The tent cleared out once the festival announced it was ceasing operations for the day at 1:53 p.m.

Locals love Les Bleus

The Fan Festival shut down for the day, but the prematch party continued on across the city.

Mahir Sanori and Gene Lazarraga staked out their spot across from the bar at Lion Sports Bar in Chinatown by 3:20 p.m., more than an hour before France and Iraq’s scheduled kick-off time.

Sanori and Lazarraga have no connection to France, aside from Lazarraga’s French classes at Delran High School in Burlington County, but the former high school classmates chose to cheer on Les Bleus.

“We were both free this day, so [we said], ‘Let’s just do it,’” Sanori said.

Lazarraga was wearing a Nike-branded navy blue French kit, while Sanori sported a white T-shirt colored in with fabric marker to make the French tricolor.

The pair also picked up some France face stickers and a French flag at Walmart, the latter of which was draped over Sanori’s shoulders.

Sanori and Lazarraga arrived just after Lion Sports Bar finished hosting a group of French supporters for prematch festivities, but both said they appreciated the influx of global culture brought to the region by the beautiful game.

“Seeing all these different groups of people come together, that’s kind of a rare sight in America,” Lazarraga said. “Especially with the sports here, people just go at each others’ throats. But, different countries [are] coming together, everyone’s just having a fun time. I just enjoy that vibe. That’s why we’re here right now.”

Later in the evening, French fans packed into The Good King Tavern in Queen Village to watch their side face Iraq.

The French bistro’s bar, which has just one TV, was at capacity by 4:15 p.m., leading the restaurant to stage an impromptu opening of its upstairs wine bar, Le Caveau.

Kim Krzaczek was one of the French fans who sat at the bar turned toward its TV as the match kicked off. The Philly native became a soccer fan through attending World Cup watch parties for previous tournaments at Bardascino Park in East Passyunk.

“That was when I started getting into it, ‘cause it was a fun, neighborhoody vibe,” Krzaczek said. “It was nice to do something different, especially during the summer.”

Krzaczek spent her 37th birthday at the bar cheering on France. She described herself as a Francophile and knows the language, but has not been to France.

Krzaczek did see one of its biggest clubs, Paris Saint-Germain, play in the UEFA Champions League during a trip to Barcelona in October.

“I was just astonished when I was there,” Krzaczek said. “It was like Philly when I was there. There’s people climbing everything. So I was like, ‘Oh, I guess I could do this.’ That was pretty much it for me.”

The French bistro roared as Les Bleus took a 1-0 lead over Iraq behind a 14th minute goal from Mbappé.

A line out the door at The Good King Tavern. The French bar — with only one TV — was full up when I arrived at 4:15 and has only gotten more crowded since.

German bar Brauhaus Schmitz, on the other hand, still has plenty of room minutes before kick.

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— Owen Hewitt (@oyounothing.bsky.social) June 22, 2026 at 4:55 PM

Around the corner on South Street, the larger Brauhaus Schmitz hosted a smaller contingent of French fans that were glued to the German bar’s many televisions. And back in Chinatown, supporters stood shoulder-to-shoulder in Lion Sports Bar’s narrow barroom to watch the match.

Those who stayed through the halftime rain delay were treated to two more goals from the French, including another from Mbappé that tied Miroslav Klose as the second-highest scorer in the history of the men’s World Cup. Messi, who scored both of Argentina’s goals in a 2-0 win over Austria, holds the record with 18.

The waterfronts of Chester and Wilmington are roughly 5,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean from Abidjan, the Ivory Coast’s largest city. But, for at least three weeks during the FIFA World Cup, the Ivorian men’s national team will call the banks of the Delaware River home.

Les Éléphants hosted an open training session at Subaru Park on Friday evening, two days before they begins their World Cup campaign with a match against Ecuador at Philadelphia Stadium (aka Lincoln Financial Field) on Sunday (7 p.m., FS1).

Ivory Coast is the only nation scheduled to play at the Linc twice during the World Cup’s group stage, and it is the only team that will stay and train in the Delaware Valley during the tournament.

The team has set up its base camp at Hotel Du Pont in Wilmington and will train at Subaru Park in Chester.

Ivory Coast’s open training session Friday evening was the second free event it has staged for the Philadelphia community. Les Éléphants beat Union II, 2-0, in a tuneup friendly on Monday that was open to the public.

The team took its official squad photo before a training session that featured some light 11-on-11 work before being welcomed to the region by a committee of representatives for Visit PA.

Ivory Coast manager Emerse Faé addressed the crowd briefly in French after the session, saying the team has received a “warm welcome” in the region since its arrival last Saturday.

“We were well-received by the delegation here,” Faé said through a translator. “We want to see you on Sunday for the win.”

Meet Les Éléphants

For some, Friday night’s open practice was an opportunity to familiarize themselves before seeing Ivory Coast take the field for a match at the Linc.

Sam Shovers and Joe Santillo bought tickets to see Ivory Coast’s final group-stage match, a clash with Curaçao at the Linc on June 25.

“We wanted to get acclimated and support,” Shovers said. “I always wanted to go to the World Cup, so I’m trying to just get as invested and ingratiated in the vibes of it as possible.”

Shovers was wearing a plain orange T-shirt, while Santillo sported an Ivory Coast-specific shirt he ordered from Amazon.

The friends said they plan on adopting the Ivorian team as one of their favorites for the tournament and have spent the last few weeks learning more about the nation and its culture — Santillo is quick to point out that Ivory Coast is home to the world’s tallest domed church.

The team is of special interest to Shovers, 30, who majored in African studies in college.

“Most of my studies were with sub-Saharan and English-speaking parts of Africa,” Shovers said. “This part of West Africa has been an exciting area to get excited about.”

Around the world

Many fans in attendance at the open training were sporting the orange Ivory Coast kit or other unofficial gear, but jerseys of all kinds popped up throughout the crowd of about 5,000 people.

The U.S., which opened its World Cup campaign with a 4-1 win over Paraguay late Friday night, was a popular selection among fans, as was English club Liverpool, which reportedly is pursuing 19-year old Ivorian winger Yan Diomande.

Sam Haile, 47, showed up to Friday’s session wearing a red Liverpool jersey. He said he cherished an opportunity to watch a potential future star for his favorite club up close.

“It’s good to see a World Cup team coming to our community, letting us watch the free training,” Haile said. “They’ve got a couple of really good, top players.”

Haile said it was also an opportunity to get into the spirit of the World Cup without paying for an expensive match ticket. He planned on attending the Union’s Soccer Celebration to watch the U.S. match Friday night, and the FIFA Fan Festival later in the tournament.

Haile was born in Ethiopia before coming to Philadelphia to enroll at Drexel in 1997. He’s stayed in the region ever since, moving to Middletown, Del., in 2009. Haile said he will be supporting the Ivorians through their World Cup run, calling it “a pleasure to watch them.”

“I have a little bit of a feeling for them,” Haile said. “I hope they will go further in the tournament and stick around in Wilmington until the end.”

Cultural exchange

While Philadelphian fans got an introduction to Ivorian culture on Friday, the Ivorian squad got a taste of Philadelphia’s, too.

Jamie Pagliei, better known as The Philly Sports Guy on social media, gave the team an official introduction over Subaru Park’s public address system after the training session ended.

With his face painted red, white, and blue for the U.S. game later that night, Pagliei praised Philadelphia Soccer 2026 for helping to bring free events like Saturday’s training to the Philadelphia region during the tournament.

“I feel like that, out of every city that’s hosting, that Philadelphia and Pennsylvania is doing it right,” Pagliei said. “We are going to be the ones that might be the snapshot that FIFA uses, that says, ‘Hey, this is what we want out of our host cities moving forward.’”

As the Ivorian players walked off the field, some stopped to admire the West Powelton steppers and drum squad, which performed throughout the concourses and in the River End on Friday.

Antoine Mapp has been with the steppers since the group’s founding in 1991. He’s worked Sixers games and Phillies games as part of the teams’ official drum lines, but Mapp said drumming in front of Ivory Coast’s stars was the most starstruck he’s been.

“That was a surreal moment,” Mapp said. “I’ve been around the biggest stars in the NBA. That, right there, was probably the biggest moment I’ve ever felt, to have a whole football team standing there watching us perform. It’s an awesome, surreal moment.”