The World Cup’s hottest accessory is free, but it’ll cost hours of your time.
At the FIFA Fan Festival in Lemon Hill, fans watched Germany beat Curacao, the Netherlands and Japan draw, and Ecuador lose to Ivory Coast on Sunday. Between games, attendees bought snacks or tried their hand at sponsored booths for prizes. Lines ebbed and flowed. But one stretched across the field with seemingly no end in sight.
A simple customizable charm bracelet has taken off at FIFA Fan Festivals nationwide, including Philly’s. The accessory has prompted wait times rivaling a Taylor Swift merch line, the latest sneaker drop, or John’s Water Ice during a record-breaking heat wave.
“Get there early!” TikTokers warned while showing off their new hardware. “I waited four hours,” one user wrote.
Bank of America is the sponsor behind the giveaway. The company announced in a news release that it was armed with more than 2 million “Fan Bands” and 10 million beads.
Mimicking a Pandora bracelet, the Fan Bands are composed of a red, blue, or black woven band and an assortment of metal beads that lace through. Available beads include numbers, flags, a FIFA World Cup trophy, and several city-specific designs that pair with World Cup host cities.
City-specific designs include a cable car for San Francisco, Mount Rainier in Seattle, a yellow cab in New York City, and a lobster in Boston.
Philadelphia’s city-specific charms include the Liberty Bell, a cheesesteak, the LOVE statue, Rocky’s boxing gloves, and Independence Hall. Visitors can either design a custom bracelet, selecting five beads, or opt for a faster pre-designed bracelet.
The bracelets are completely free for Fan Festival attendees — no sign-ups or bank loyalty required, either. But be warned: The lines are serious.
On Reddit, an attendee said visitors ran straight to the Bank of America booth when Philly’s Fan Fest opened and that they waited an hour and 20 minutes to get theirs. On TikTok, users said they waited anywhere from four to eight hours depending on when they arrived and their level of determination.
The allegiance isn’t limited to Philadelphia. People attending Fan Fests in other cities are also complaining about the lines.
In Dallas, one attendee noted: “more people [were] lining up for bracelets than watching the match.”
And if waiting in lines isn’t your thing, Philly has another charm bracelet ready and waiting.
Artist John Wind launched a collection of Philly charms in honor of the nation’s 250th birthday that feature the LOVE statue, a boxing glove, and even a soccer ball.
The locally made bracelet, which is a collaboration with the Philadelphia Visitor Center, is $98.
Justin Siebel woke up on Sunday to drive with his wife to the Pocono Raceway and enjoy the NASCAR Cup Series, a two-hour drive from their Fairmount home.
But when he walked to where he had parked his car a few days prior, near Harper Street, a block from the FIFA Fan Festival, the vehicle was gone.
Though Siebel had registered for special permit parking with the Philadelphia Parking Authority that allows residents to park in the neighborhood during the festival, his car was ticketed and towed to a South Philly tow yard.
“My wife and I did the right things, we registered our vehicles with PPA, and still came out to my car and it wasn’t there,” Siebel said.
Fairmount residents have been taking to social media to share accounts of parking tickets despite having registered for special permits. Since the fan festival started last week, residents have expressed concern over the city’s management of road closures, parking restrictions, and communication.
The PPA issued nearly 2,500 tickets for illegal parking in the festival parking enforcement zone over the weekend, with 173 of those tickets written in error to residents with valid parking permits, said Gabe Roberts, the agency’s acting executive director.PPA’s internal system has flagged these tickets for cancellation and will continue to flag wrongfully issued parking tickets by “cross-checking them with our existing residential parking permit holder lists,” Roberts said.
Residents who have permits and were wrongfully ticketed will receive a cancellation notice by mail, the PPA said.
“The PPA utilizes a daily internal accuracy control mechanism that identifies and cancels any FanFest Enforcement Zone ticket written in error for vehicles with valid residential parking permits or Lemon Hill permits,” a PPA spokesperson said. “Any vehicle towed in error will also have its violation canceled and all fees refunded. The PPA apologizes for any inconvenience.”
Most ticketed residents will simply have their ticket canceled, Roberts said. But four residents with valid parking permits had their vehicles towed, and later returned with no fees.
However, Siebel’s was not returned, and he needed to call PPA to locate his car, then call the tow yard in South Philly about picking it up. Siebel said he was initially told it would cost $238 to drive out of the tow yard, but his fees were waived upon arriving and he was able to freely leave with his car.
“It did cost me an Uber and an afternoon to retrieve. But I recommend that anyone else stay calm and use humor. Everyone in Philly has a sense of humor,” Siebel said.
Residents can contact the PPA with questions or to confirm that their ticket has been canceled by calling 215-683-9421 or 215-683-9677 or by emailing engageppa@philapark.org.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Philly, you’re in for a treat.
In anticipation of next Friday’s match between Brazil and Haiti, I decided to make the 93-mile trek by train from Philadelphia to MetLife Stadium to watch the Seleçao take on Morocco last Saturday.
This match was sure to be comparable to the numbers that will be back here in about three weeks for the World Cup final, so I wanted to see what the trip would be like on NJ Transit, since New Jersey has prided itself on the legion of bus shuttles it’s arranged to take fans over to MetLife Stadium.
Also, this match was definitely going to be worth the trip, considering the matchup of two teams regarded among the top 10 best in the world (in fact, the match pitted No. 6 Brazil against No. 7 Morocco, according to FIFA World Rankings).
Though some might want to argue whether or not it’s still worth the price of FIFA’s hefty admission, it went down as an unforgettable match.
Brazil fans were out in force at MetLife Stadium.Kerith Gabriel / Staff
Over 80,000 (80,663 announced) mostly yellow-clad fans sang, cheered — a few even shed tears while the Brazilian national anthem played — watching this first game for both teams in Group C. For anyone there, it was worth FIFA’s steep admission price, and speaking with various fans, the prices did vary across similar sections.
Sergio Ximeyo, 22, who came from Brooklyn, said he waited until the morning of the game and was able to snag his ticket for $300. Ximeyo, dressed from head to toe in Brazil’s colors, considered himself “lucky” to say he was witnessing this World Cup match live.
Mariana Costa traveled from São Paulo, Brazil, for last Saturday’s match against Morocco. Kerith Gabriel / Staff
Another fan, Mariana Costa, 38, who traveled from São Paulo, Brazil, was all smiles in a traditional Brazilian headdress and said that she paid $1,000 for her ticket to the match in the same 200-level section, though a bit closer to the pitch.
“These tickets [prices] are crazy,” Costa said, “But you love your team and your country, so you pay.”
It’s safe to anticipate that same passion will travel down I-95 for Brazil’s second group match against Haiti at Lincoln Financial Field on Friday (9 p.m., Fox29). As much as FIFA would like us to refer to the venue as “Philadelphia Stadium,” the Philly in me has a hard time conforming.
Sergio Ximeyo says he spent just $300 for a 200-level seat for last Saturday’s Brazil-Morocco match. Kerith Gabriel / Staff
Joao Brigadóes, 33, who said he resides in New York, noted that he’s already excited to take in the match. Brigadóes explained that he purchased his tickets through a presale and spent $4,200 for a total of four tickets, two for the match against Morocco and two for Friday’s game.
“This team is my heart,” Brigadóes said. “Look at this, we are all Brazilians here, this is the World Cup — I may never get a chance to witness this opportunity again, so yeah, I saved because I knew I couldn’t miss this chance to see my country play so close to [my home].”
We got a taste of just how much Brazilian (and Moroccan, too, we didn’t forget) supporters brought the noise during last summer’s FIFA Club World Cup, when fans of Flamengo and Fluminense came through for group stage matches. The atmosphere of their club teams was unbelievable.
For the national team? On Saturday night, it was a different level. Even from the bird’s-eye view of MetLife Stadium’s hermetically sealed press box where I didn’t stay for very long. You can’t feel the pulse of anything in there, but in the adjacent 200-level sections? Fantastic.
New York has a large contingent of Brazilians living up here, an estimated 35,000, according to 2024 U.S. Census data, and it felt like they all packed into MetLife Stadium on Saturday. They packed shuttles, held up the lines at concessions, took over large swaths of sections, and were loud.
For this soccer fan, who has been to quite a few live matches in my lifetime, this one is right up there as one of the best when it came to atmosphere, excitement, and quality on the pitch as Brazil and Morocco battled to a 1-1 draw.
Let’s talk water for a second …
Oh, speaking of concessions, “Philadelphia Stadium” should consider taking a page from “New York-New Jersey Stadium” when it comes to water bottles.
A bottle of Dasani at MetLife? $5.75. A concession worker noted, too, that regardless of the event, that’s the going rate at MetLife. Anyone who’s been to the Linc knows that’s not the case, with prices surging to as much as $10 for the Club World Cup.
In Sunday’s opening match in Philadelphia between Ecuador and Ivory Coast, the price for a water was $6.99.
Brazil fans in yellow bring the noise in their nation’s first match at MetLife Stadium. And the water prices weren’t terrible, all things considered.Kerith Gabriel / Staff
So, while yes, $5.75 isn’t exactly the cheapest for a plastic bottle of purified water, it’s still cheaper than options at the Linc.
Not gonna lie, that was refreshing to hear, so I bought two.
Cavan Sullivan slammed his book bag down and told the teacher that he had had enough of those boring, dull readings.
Animal Farm? The House on Mango Street? No, not those.
It was the passages Mark Franek assigned four years ago to the class of ninth-grade soccer phenoms about the sport’s history in America that made Sullivan irate. They weren’t just uninteresting. They were negative.
“You can just take a look at the books and the titles of them,” said Franek, who teaches at YSC Academy, the soccer-specific high school that funnels students to the Union. “One is Why the U.S. will never win a World Cup. Who wants to read that? Let alone, Cavan Sullivan.”
Franek, 57, taught at Penn Charter in the 1990s before becoming a lawyer and then returning to the classroom in 2022 to teach at YSC, the high school for elite boys’ soccer players that produces World Cup players and sits across the parking lot from the Union stadium in Chester.
The school moved from Wayne to Chester in 2023, taking over space in an old power station on the banks of the Delaware River. It is an incubator of soccer talent, and three players on the U.S. World Cup squad — Mark McKenzie, Auston Trusty, and Brenden Aaronson — graduated from YSC.
Sullivan, a 16-year-old who already plays for the Union and has a deal to play for Manchester City in the English Premier League when he turns 18, graduated last month. He might be the future of American soccer. First, Sullivan had to learn the history of American soccer. And it was Franek’s job to make that subject more engaging.
“If you think about where someone is in their formative years and this really critical point of development in mid-adolescence and learning about themselves and the world and the soccer world,” said Jared Micklos, YSC’s Chief Strategy Officer. “Then understanding what comes before them is also this optimistic way to give them hope and confidence and belief that they might be able to write the literal next chapter is something you need to reinforce and you need to inspire.”
The Union’s Cavan Sullivan wrote the foreword for the book written by his former teacher, Mark Franek.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Back to school
Franek grew up in York and played soccer at Duke University before starting his teaching career in Montgomery, Ala. He wanted to teach American Literature and coach varsity soccer. An Alabama high school, Franek said, was the only place that would let him. He moved four years later to Penn Charter, where he coached Chris Albright and Bobby Convey — teammates on the 2006 U.S. World Cup team — and taught Matt Ryan.
Franek left Penn Charter in 2007 and enrolled at Temple’s Law School after realizing there was money in litigation. He used to charge his neighbor $20 to mow his grass while his wife — a lawyer — made much more for providing a few hours of legal aid for the neighbor’s painting business.
He landed a job with a big firm, enjoyed the money, but hated the hours. Franek was in his early 40s when he passed the bar, but he was working like someone in their 20s. He worked almost every weekend and could see he would soon be missing his son’s soccer games. Something had to give.
He went to YSC to meet Brendan Sullivan shortly after Quinn Sullivan — Cavan’s older brother — signed with the Union in 2022. Franek wanted Sullivan to autograph a jersey for his son. And there he saw Nooha Ahmed-Lee, the former administrator from Penn Charter and current YSC Head of School.
“An hour later, I realized she was actually vetting me and trying to figure out if I was happy being a lawyer,” Franek said. “I talked to my wife and said, ‘I’m going to call Nooha and say if you’re serious about an English position, then I’m serious about getting out of the law and back into teaching.’ It was the right time for me.”
Mark Franek shows his book, “American Soccer Nation: The Remarkable 150-Year History of Yanks on a Roll, from Mob Football to the Modern Game.”Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
Writing the book
Ahmed-Lee heard about Sullivan’s reaction to those readings and challenged Franek to design a course about the history of American soccer that he could weave into his English class. Franek accepted. He tracked down every book he could find about U.S. soccer, combed through internet articles, and learned everything he could.
But Franek failed to find something that covered the whole story. So Franek wrote his own: a nearly 300-page book that was published earlier this year titled American Soccer Nation. It is a thorough history of American soccer that tries to deliver the story with optimism. It’s something Sullivan would want to read. He even wrote the foreword.
“It’s incredibly rewarding to see an idea that began in our classrooms grow into a resource that is now helping students and soccer enthusiasts better understand the game,” Ahmed-Lee said.
Franek uses the book in class at YSC as he assigns a chapter every week. The kids who dream of playing professionally learn about the pro league that rivaled baseball in the 1920s and the one that recruited Pele in the 1970s. Yes, there was pro soccer before the MLS. And Franek’s book does not ignore the mistakes that plagued those early leagues or the challenges the MLS faces today.
“I have the best job in the world,” Franek said. “I get to teach young men in small classes who are living the dream. They’re grinding in the pitch and the classroom, trying to get better, and they have little tolerance for busy work or boring work or work that won’t help them get better whether it’s on the pitch or in the classroom.”
The final chapter of Franek’s book details YSC and why he believes that “total immersion” is soccer’s path to success in America. The Union paired their soccer academy with a high school that is centered around soccer.
Mark Franek shown in the “jersey room” at YSC Academy in Chester. Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
“Imagine what the United States could do on the international level if one-third or one-half of the 30 MLS teams were able to build an academy and then surround that soccer environment with a learning environment that works for their setting and their community where you’re supercharging the dream and helping the kids along to the college dream,” Franek said. “The Union have shown without a doubt that it works.”
YSC says 86% of its students graduate from college and 68 have signed professional soccer contracts since the school opened in 2013. The academics are not secondary at YSC but everyone understands the importance of soccer. The day starts later so students can train in the morning. Coaches and teachers work together to not overload a student’s schedule.
“We have to remind everyone that their ultimate drive and purpose is to be great at soccer,” Micklos said. “Whether that means they’re a pro directly when they leave our doors and walk off the stage or they go to college and become a pro or it means they go to college, play soccer, and that’s the end of their soccer career, but the journey has prepared them for life and a career off the field.
“The thing that drives them and their passion and the reason for the school is to help stimulate that growth and help them on that journey. It’s a hard journey for a young person to have the demands they have. If those things aren’t designed around their schedule then we’re actually doing them a disservice in their day-to-day life by creating a bigger challenge or hurdle than they need vs. saying, ‘Hey, we incorporate everything you need on the soccer field and then integrate that into what we’re doing at the school because an aligned and integrated environment is going to be the one that helps you best prepare.”
Even the food is fit for budding pro athletes.
“I remember two weeks into school and Cavan was eating a T-bone steak in my class,” Franek said. “I’m like, this is weird. I’ve taught for 15 years at Penn Charter and I’ve never seen anyone pull out a T-bone steak with A1 Sauce and then grab House on Mango Street. You’re living with alpha males. There’s a certain energy around the building that’s palpable and it’s glorious. Cavan was great and so is pretty much everyone. They’re moving in a direction and they’re super-focused.”
Franek had Sullivan and his classmates autograph a ball during their freshman year. It was a keepsake of a class that pushed him to write that book. So far, several of them have already signed pro contracts. Sullivan should soon be playing in England for one of the world’s biggest clubs, and he’ll be a contender in four years to make the U.S. World Cup roster. Perhaps he’ll even team with his older brother, who graduated from YSC in 2022. If so, Franek will have more positive stories about American soccer to share with his students. And his book will need some more chapters.
IRVINE, Calif. — The U.S. men’s soccer team’s big win over Paraguay electrified this World Cup, especially for American fans. But the players can’t spend too long reveling in the moment, because the next game is now on the horizon.
Monday was always going to be a natural moment to turn the page, since it marked the return to work after two days off. But there was also a wakeup call over the weekend, when Australia upset Turkey and blew Group D wide-open.
The players got the message.
“We saw a team that went out against Turkey and competed at a very, very high level,” stalwart U.S. midfielder Tyler Adams said of his team’s next opponent. “They’re combative, they’re smart, tactically they were unbelievably sound. So I think it’s going to be an extremely difficult game.”
Tyler Adams making a point to a teammate during a drill.Jonathan Tannenwald
As he got ready for Monday’s practice, Adams said it was “pretty easy” for the team to shift its focus ahead.
“I think that having a day off is obviously nice to just be able to disconnect,” he said. “I think having this amount of time in between games is really nice, just for the body, the mind, everything in between. It was a good start — it’s exactly what we wanted and we set out to do. That being said, the focus has to be on Australia now.”
Australia’s win raises the stakes even higher in what was already a much-anticipated game (3 p.m., Fox29, Telemundo). The scene will be just as much of the story as the action on the field, as soccer-mad Seattle finally hosts the U.S. after not being part of any previous World Cup in this country, from the 1994 men’s tournament to the 1999 and 2003 women’s ones.
The city looked terrific in its first time on the big stage, Egypt’s 1-1 tie with Belgium on Monday.
A view of the full house in Seattle as Belgium and Egypt’s players lined up for the national anthems.Maddy Grassy
When the U.S. and Australia met in a friendly last October, striker Haji Wright scored both American goals in the 2-1 win. He reflected Monday on watching tape of the Turkey game, and how these Socceroos compare to last fall.
“Saw a well-executed game plan from Australia,” he said. “They’re tough to break down, they’re dangerous on counterattacks, they have good players at the top of the pitch, and they were able to be effective and damage Turkey. I think Turkey kind of came into the game a bit overconfident, and I think we won’t make that same mistake.”
That was a reference to team captain Hakan Çalhanoglu claiming a few days earlier: “I think we will dominate the game, because we have more qualities and a more talented team.”
Some U.S. pundits have done some boasting of their own, and Adams was asked about that. He quickly brushed it off.
“I don’t think any commentary helps anybody,” he said. “And no, it’s not going to be a layup. If anything, it’s going to be one of the most difficult games that we play.”
Haji Wright (center) in a drill at Monday’s practice.Jonathan Tannenwald
The U.S. will be on alert not just for Australia forward Nestory Irankunda, already justifying the hype as a breakout star. Adams’ yellow card in the second half against Paraguay means that if he’s is booked again in this game, he’ll miss the group finale against Turkey on June 25. Card accumulation is then reset after the group stage ends, and after the quarterfinals.
“I live with yellow cards,” Adams said. “I think that for me, it’s something that you have to manage of course, but especially in the second game, you can’t take your foot off the gas.”
When kickoff arrives, it will have been a week since the Americans’ group opener. That’s a rare sight in a World Cup, created by FIFA’s expansion of the field to 48 teams. In the past, there were usually three or four days between games.
“I absolutely love it after playing a long season,” said Adams, who plays his club soccer for the English Premier League’s Bournemouth, noting too that the last World Cup in 2022 — his first — was the first moved from the summer to autumn because of Qatar’s heat.
Tyler Adams drew a big crowd for his session with the media, as he always does.Jonathan Tannenwald
“Your body feels it, obviously, a little bit more coming into the end of the season, into a World Cup where there’s so much emotion, so much adrenaline, all these things,” he said.
Pulisic trains separately
As he nurses the hamstring knock that sent him out of the Paraguay game at halftime, Christian Pulisic did not take the field with his teammates Monday morning. He emerged separately a few minutes later, and worked on his own with a trainer on the next field over.
A U.S. Soccer spokesperson said Pulisic was scheduled to do a “modified training session” with “gym and individual field work.”
Pochettino wasn’t scheduled to meet with the media on Monday, but he came over during practice to say hello and talk casually for a few minutes. When a reporter asked him how Pulisic is doing, Pochettino answered “Good.”
Christian Pulisic working with a trainer on a separate field Monday morning.Jonathan Tannenwald
Adams shared the sentiment, and a few more words.
“Come on — Christian will be ready, everyone. Let’s relax,” he said with his usual spirit. “I think that he picked up a knock a few days before the game, and I think he got kicked in the same spot again during the game, and when you go in at halftime, things obviously get tight within the 15-, 20-minute break. But he’ll be fine.”
U.S. Soccer also announced that 20-year-old goalkeeper prospect Julian Eyestone of English club Brentford has joined the camp as a training player. Diego Kochen of Spain’s Barcelona departed last week, while the Union’s Andrew Rick has stayed all along.
Though U.S. Soccer didn’t say why Kochen left, ESPN reported last week that the 20-year-old is on the verge of a season-long loan to Danish club Lyngby to get some regular playing time. Lyngby earned promotion to Denmark’s top flight last month, and its ownership includes the Union holding a partial stake.
Julian Eyestone (left) is another of the U.S. program’s leading young goalkeeper prospects.Jonathan Tannenwald
When Ecuadorian soccer content creator Leandro de Vera, aka DonFutbol, tied his country’s flag around the neck of the Rocky statue at the top of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s steps, he was unaware of the butterfly effect he had set in motion.
De Vera inadvertently triggered the “Rocky statue curse” — a jinx that comes into effect when a team’s fans dress the boxer in an opposing team’s gear — at an Ecuadorian fan celebration at the Art Museum on Saturday.
Earlier that day, two Ecuadorian journalists from Guayaquil’s Radio Diblu had warned fans not to put flags or jerseys on the statue.
“The people of Philadelphia say doing that doesn’t bring good luck and can make a team lose,” reporter Carlos Morales said Saturday, standing by the Rocky statue at the base of the Art Museum.
“The recommendation is to take a picture, put your flag next to it, but don’t put anything on him,” reporter Nico Rivera added.
In the past, multiple NFL fan bases have dressed the statue in their team’s colors prior to a matchup with the Eagles. Most went on to see their team lose. Most notably, Vikings fans wrapped a purple towel around Rocky’s waist before being blown out 38-7 in the 2017 NFC Championship. The Patriots, 49ers, and Commanders have fallen to the same jinx.
Philadelphia sports magic strikes again 🥊
The moment Ecuador fans put their shirt on Rocky, the outcome was inevitable 🫣 pic.twitter.com/IeqYaICygy
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) June 15, 2026
Ecuador was no exception. On Sunday, to kick off World Cup play in Philadelphia, Ecuador was defeated by Ivory Coast, 1-0, at Lincoln Financial Field, renamed Philadelphia Stadium for the World Cup. Ivory Coast’s single goal came in the 90th minute. Meanwhile, Ecuador could not catch a break. The team hit the post three times — becoming just the fourth team in World Cup history to do so and go on to lose.
Perhaps it was the emotion, naivete, or the fact that de Vera was standing on the Rocky statue at the top of the steps, rather than the bottom. But his excitement was apparent when he climbed the statue, screaming: “Friends, we are here in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rocky is from Ecuador — Rocky Zambrano,” he proclaimed in Spanish, baptizing the Philly icon with a common Ecuadorian last name.
Ecuadorian soccer fans attend a flag waving event at the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, ahead of their first round World Cup match against the Ivory Coast, on Saturday, June 13, 2026.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Ecuadorian Instagram commenters reacted in horror, letting the content creator know of the bad omen he had cast upon their team.
“Friends, it’s amazing how much I’ve been insulted for putting the flag on Rocky,” said de Vera in Spanish in a video posted to social media. “I look at my direct messages, and they’re dragging my mamita [mother] through the mud.”
After Ecuador lost, the hate worsened. One fan even approached de Vera to take a photograph with him just to caption it: “with the most insulted person in Ecuador.”
“It’s been tough since the game ended,” de Vera told The Inquirer in Spanish.
De Vera’s own superstitiousness has made the entire situation harder to deal with. He commonly wears different-colored socks to send his team good luck, and it hurt him personally not to have known about the curse ahead of time. If he had, he would have never touched the statue.
“I was just excited, and there was so much going on I didn’t even realize people were screaming ‘no’ to me until much later,” he said.
De Vera meant no disrespect to his team or to Rocky, he said. He just wanted to bring both Philly and Ecuadorian cultures together, hence giving the fictional boxer a temporary Ecuadorian last name.
“I saw the first movie, but by the time he was done climbing the stairs, I was so out of breath I couldn’t watch the other movies,” de Vera said jokingly. “Let’s wait until the World Cup ends and I will watch the rest. I owe it to the city.”
A young Ecuadorian soccer fan sits under the Ecuadorian flag during a flag waving event at the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, ahead of Ecuador’s first round World Cup match against the Ivory Coast on Saturday, June 13, 2026.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
‘I think I messed up’
De Vera wasn’t alone in taking the blame.
Colombian social media star Beta Mejía, who is dating Ecuadorian influencer Alejandra Jaramillo, was also in the hot seat after videos of him doing the same went viral. As he wrapped the flag around the statue’s shoulders, shouts of “No” from Ecuadorian fans familiar with the curse rained down the museum steps.
Beta Mejía 🇪🇨 protagonizó un curioso momento en Filadelfia 🥊 al intentar colocar una bandera ecuatoriana sobre la famosa estatua de Rocky, pero su acción fue detenida de inmediato con un contundente “¡No, no, no!” 😅. pic.twitter.com/EZax5oWb0p
— ÚLTIMA HORA ECUADOR (@UltimaHoraEC_) June 14, 2026
“Parse, I think I messed up,” Mejía said in Spanish on a video Sunday before the match. “God, it’s me again, your favorite soldier; I didn’t know, I really didn’t know.”
Mejía blamed his actions on an act of kindness, saying he was trying to help a fan who had passed him the flag. After the backlash, he looked to reverse the bad luck. On video, Mejía lit four candles, praying for God to bless the Ecuadorian players with his blood.
“Fear nothing,” Mejía said, ending his video quoting Ecuadorian player Niño Moi (Moisés Caicedo) and rooting for the team to win.
Ecuadorian soccer fan Freddy Baquelo cheers during a flag waving event at the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, ahead of their first round World Cup match against the Ivory Coast on Saturday, June 13, 2026.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Along with de Vera and Mejía, another fan dressed Rocky, attaching a custom Rocky jersey to the statue. He explained his rationale on an Instagram post:
“This is my good luck charm,” Gigio Benavides Peralta wrote. “Traveling for more than 26 hours, more than 5000km from Loja Ecuador to fulfill my promise to put the T-shirt on Rocky. For if I did that, Ecuador would win the World Cup… Let’s go Ecuador.. thanks to @maconsport and my Aunt Odi who helped me make the shirt.”
Despite the supposed Rocky curse, many Ecuadorians on social media seemed to think the bad omen did not come from the shirt or flags, but rather from having the president at the match.
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa left the small South American country on June 11 for a four-day U.S. diplomatic trip meant to build bilateral relationships with the United States. He was captured at the game by FIFA cameras, shocking many Ecuadorians.
In a post-match video posted by Ecuador TV, Noboa was recorded leaving the stadium with his cabinet and a band of security guards.
Ecuadorian fans are heard in the background booing him, surrounding his convoy, calling him “salado” (an Ecuadorian word for someone with or who brings bad luck), and shouting that he “came for a vacation.”
Philadelphians react — and also blame Hard Rock Cafe ‘takeover’
Meanwhile, Philadelphia fans are having a bit of fun with the whole ordeal.
“Attention all teams visiting Philly, if you put your jersey on the Rocky Statue the ghost of Adrian will direct all of your shots towards a goalpost,” one wrote on X. “She and Paulie haunt the Linc, it’s a thing.”
As one fan pointed out on social media, Ecuador may have been jinxed by its fans flocking to the Market Street Hard Rock Cafe — just as Commanders fans did before their team’s 55-23 loss to the Eagles in the 2025 NFC Championship.
"Philadelphia has a cursed Hard Rock Cafe" is honestly just fun world building. Love this development. https://t.co/u5GN2objpJ
— one dozen rats at a keyboard (@PanasonicDX4500) June 15, 2026
A Commanders fan known as Tailgate Ted proudly proclaimed that his fan base had taken over the chain outpost prior to the 2025 conference championship game. At the time, the video received mass ridicule from the Philadelphia faithful, including Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott, as the restaurant has little cultural significance to the city.
“Oh no the Philly Hard Rock has fallen. Maybe next they will take over Applebees,” one Eagles fan wrote at the time.
On Saturday, Ecuador will face Curaçao in Kansas City before playing Germany in New York on June 25. De Valera is hoping to enact the Rocky curse again — this time for his benefit.
“We are not out of the World Cup; Argentina once lost [their first match] and still won the World Cup,” de Valera said. “But now that I know, I am going to buy a Germany flag for Rocky ahead of the game.”
Ecuadorian soccer fans wave their flags ahead of their first round World Cup match against the Ivory Coast during a flag waving event at the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Saturday, June 13, 2026.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Crowds of Ecuadorian supporters lined the FIFA Fan Festival at Lemon Hill park Sunday during the Group E clash between Ecuador and Ivory Coast at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday.
The Ivorian team is calling the Philadelphia region home for the World Cup, but Ecuador had an advantage in the 23 acres of festival grounds.
The festival, free and open to the public, streamed three of the day’s matches to a global crowd. Alongside Ecuador, supporters of Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Ivory Coast, and Curaçao watched their teams compete from the festival grounds.
The festival ended its night with the first match of Philadelphia’s World Cup schedule, a 1-0 win for Ivory Coast.
Festival organizers declined to give a specific count for the number of people who entered the 15,000-person capacity festival grounds in its first weekend of operations, but organizers did say tens of thousands of fans have passed through the festival gates since they opened Thursday.
“People have come, and they’ve been blown away by what we’ve accomplished out here,” said Michael DelBene, the festival’s executive producer. “The energy is high, the crowds are big, the food is delicious, and the matches are great. We think we’re off to a great start.”
Fan Festival’s opening weekend
Hosting a crowd of fans for the first World Cup match in Philadelphia’s history was a checkpoint for festival organizers, but there’s little time for them to reflect on the three-year planning process that led to this point.
Philadelphia’s Fan Festival is the only festival open for all 39 days of the tournament. It will be back open on Monday for three matches, beginning with Spain-Cape Verde at noon.
Putting on the 39-day festival has its challenges, but DelBene said he would not mind if the festival were open for 100 days.
“The transformation of staring at a blank piece of paper to standing in the middle of the site and looking around at what we managed to build and create for our city and its guests is the most rewarding thing,” DelBene said. “That’s why I do what I do.”
The festival has had to contend with high temperatures through its opening weekend. Philly experienced record highs on Thursday before seeing thunderstorms that led festival organizers to move up the scheduled Luis Fonsi concert to beat the storms.
Singer Luis Fonsi is one of multiple musical acts that perform at Lemon Hill.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Hot and humid conditions continued throughout the weekend, and more storms loomed over the region as Ecuador and Ivory Coast kicked off.
DelBene said public safety is a top priority, and pointed to Thursday’s scheduling change as evidence.
“If we can’t do it safely, we just won’t do it,” DelBene said. “We have comprehensive public safety and security plans when it comes to logistics, when it comes to heat, when it comes to rain and lightning, and we’ve had to exercise those plans already … Those things have gone smoothly, so we feel like we’re prepared.”
Fortunately for the Fan Festival and its organizers, the rain held off and the festival was able to host crowds for all three games it showed on Sunday and a few live music performances, including a concert from Ecuadorian singer-songwriter Johann Vera.
Ecuadorian fans announced their arrival to Philadelphia by wrapping the Rocky statue outside the Art Museum in a bright yellow Ecuadorian jersey on Saturday.
Fans of La Tri continued to have a strong presence on Sunday, filling the Fan Festival with yellow, blue, and red.
“They are a passionate fan base, and just wonderful, incredible people,” DelBene said. “We are just so excited to have them here in Philadelphia.”
Matt McKee was not one of the many native Ecuadorians on the festival grounds, but the resident of East Falls was cheering on Ecuador, sporting a jersey he bought on a trip there in 2012.
McKee said he was impressed with Ecuador’s presence throughout Philadelphia this weekend, especially considering its relatively small population, as compared with the other South American nations in the tournament.
“A ton of yellow, even earlier today in Center City,” McKee said. “You saw yellow shirts everywhere. It’s an impressive showing for not that large of a South American country.”
The Fan Festival had a celebrity fan on Sunday, too. Sixers center Adem Bona strolled through the festival Sunday afternoon during Germany’s defeat of Curaçao.
Ivorian fans were harder to spot, despite the team being scheduled to play two games at Lincoln Financial Field and setting up its training base in Chester.
Still, some fans have adopted the Ivorian team, which is the only team scheduled to play twice in Philadelphia during the group stage. They were rewarded Sunday as Amad Diallo netted a 90th-minute winner for Les Éléphants.
Naseef Sami, a lifelong fan of Germany, had traveled from Williamsport, Pa., to attend his first World Cup match. He stopped at the Fan Festival to watch the Germans dominate Curaçao, 7-1, in Sunday’s first game.
Sami said he valued soccer’s ability to serve as a bridge between cultures. He conversed with two Ecuadorian fans as they waited on the draw between Japan and the Netherlands to kick off.
“Especially in the current political environment, to see that happening right now,” Sami said. “People have all sorts of colors, all sorts of jerseys, it doesn’t really matter … [It is] cool to talk to people from all different places.”
It took 96 years, but the most sacred version of the beautiful game came to Philadelphia.
Both the city and the match met the moment.
Extra public transportation, hydration stations, and modest traffic framed an evening of graceful and powerful football, the kind every other nation reveres except ours.
Amid the spectacle of team jerseys, flags, and team benches covered by vibrant roofs identifying the sides in national colors, the grass was the star. The stadium’s normal turf is a ragged Bermuda thatched with 5% plastic to withstand the cleated NFL rhinoceroses who usually play there. For the World Cup, it was transformed into a flawless pitch, golf-course quality ryegrass and bluegrass, the sort of surface you on which could imagine Jason Kelce lying on his back and making snow angels.
Ecuador goalkeeper Hernán Galíndez watches as the ball crosses the goal line on a shot by Ivory Coast’s Amad Diallo late in the second half of Sunday’s game.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Viewed through an international lens, even a soccer game this insignificant still was the most significant sporting event in the history of the city. A town that has seen two World Series titles and a Stanley Cup won within its borders has never hosted anything that riveted folks on six of the continents.
What comes close? Maybe Rocky Marciano, when he knocked out Jersey Joe Walcott in 1952, and won the heavyweight championship. Maybe not.
More moments will come, since the group-stage match between Ivory Coast and Ecuador is just the first of five such games. On July 4, Philadelphia will host an elimination game in the Round of 16, and then that will become the most significant sporting event in the history of the city.
The difference was deserving of the night’s significance. At the top of the box, Amad Diallo, who plays for Manchester United, redirected a simple cross from Wilfried Singo with his left foot in the 90th and final minute of regular play. Given eight minutes of stoppage time, Ecuador could not break through.
Three crucial points to Les Elephants, following the 1-0 final.
After three days of pre-tournament watch parties and fan fests (the Cup began in Mexico City on Thursday), Philly’s hot, sticky, 90-degree moment finally arrived.
The city, four weeks removed from the PGA Championship at Aronimink and four weeks from hosting the Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park, finally seemed to grasp the magnitude of the world’s biggest single-sport sporting event landing at its doorstep.
The catalyst: How about the 4-1 thunderbolt win the United States laid on Paraguay in Los Angeles on Friday night.
Ecuador hit the crossbar twice in a first half and nearly scored on a blast from Flamengo’s Gonzalo Plata just before the water break in the second half. Ivory Coast hit the crossbar six minutes into the second half. All of those shots drew gasps, but gasps of different timbre; either delight denied or disaster averted, because the gasps were almost completely Ecuadorian.
Ecuador is nearly 3,000 miles from Philadelphia, but, for two hours, the stadium served as an Ecuadorian colony, its fans wearing yellow, accounting for 90% of the 68,247 fans in the seats. If they’d issued 60,000 pairs of goggles, they’d have had 60,000 Minions.
you can totally trust the little green guy leading you into a cave full of monsters 😉 Trey Parker is the voice of Goomi in Minions & Monsters. Only in theaters July 1. pic.twitter.com/je5rfPaxAQ
Little wonder. About half of the approximately 850,000 people in the United States who claim a connection with Ecuador live in either New York or New Jersey. Most estimates of Ivorians in the U.S. don’t even reach 10,000.
After the 5 p.m. SEPTA Broad Street Line express was taken out of service at Race-Vine because a door wouldn’t close, the 5:15 local train was inundated with Ecuador enthusiasts when it hit the City Hall stop.
The cars were full to bursting by the time they hit Walnut-Locust, yellow jerseys shoulder to shoulder and chest to chest, men and women alike. As the train pulled out a song arose, full throat and deafening in the hot, cramped subway car:
“¡Vamos, vamos ecuatorianos, esta noche tenemos que ganar!”
Or:
“Let’s go, let’s go, Ecuadorians, tonight we have to win!”
As the throng exited up the stairs of NRG Station, their hearts and voices swelled again. The song rang out again and again during the match.
Unfortunately, the Ecuadorians were not singing on the subway ride home.
Fans wait outside SEPTA’s NRG Station near the stadium following Ivory Coast’s victory over Ecuador Sunday night.Michelle Myers
Only the Olympics does a better job than FIFA capitalizing on nationalistic spectacle, and Sunday night was no exception. The stunning FIFA World Cup 2026 emblem tapestry laid on the ground covered the midfield circle. Replicas of the flags of Ecuador and the Ivory Coast took up most of the rest of the pitch in front of the goals, crescents cut in the extra fabric to frame the FIFA logo tapestry at midfield. The teams stood on their respective sides of the circle, facing the south stands, as the anthems played.
The match occurred where the Eagles play, at Lincoln Financial Field, which must be referred to as Philadelphia Stadium during World Cup games. FIFA has a strict policy that prohibits references to sponsors who don’t give FIFA money.
That said, Sunday’s affair was nothing like an Eagles game. It was far more elegant.
When Ivory Coast dawdled, La Tri — a nickname for Ecuador’s fans, who wear the tricolor yellow, blue, and red of the flag — booed and whistled. It was not unlike the response of Eagles fans whenever the Cowboys score.
Fans of the American version of football might balk at the contention that soccer is a bigger deal, and lovers of the Olympics might contend that the ever-shifting collection of summer and competitions matters more. They are wrong.
Ivory Coast’s Wilfried Singo, right, defends against Ecuador’s Jean Michaël Seri during the second half of a FIFA World Cup Group E match on Sunday.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
The World Cup is a different animal than the Olympic Games, concentrated and egalitarian. You don’t have to own a horse or skis to prepare to compete in the World Cup, just a ball.
The only thing in America that reflects a World Cup is an NFL season. Consider the first 17 games, the regular season, the group stage. Consider the playoffs the knockout Round of 16.
The NFL season in its entirety and intensity is the one comparison that might allow most Americans to understand the depth of investment and emotion other nations harbor for soccer.
And, when you factor in the fact that virtually every man, woman, and child in many of these countries have played the sport, then you can better comprehend why soccer is, for so many people on earth, as much religion as it is diversion, and how sacred evenings like Sunday can be for anyone connected with the Ivory Coast or Ecuador.
The folks who organized it all understood the gravity of the moment.
Meg Kane, CEO of Philadelphia Soccer 2026, had measures of both delight and relief in her voice as she sat in the stadium parking lot Sunday night.
“It’s been an exciting four days,“ she began, noting that there were 36 more to go. “I think everything we hoped this would be has been borne out.”
The delight was easy to source: She had just seen a really good soccer game in a grand stadium with two excellent teams, snuck in just minutes before a thunderstorm, with little or no complication.
The relief was probably based on the reception most of the millions of residents had given these unusual visitors.
“People in Philadelphia are excited to be hosting something like this,” Kane said. “Philadelphians love when people choose to spend their time here.“
The best news: Philadelphia gets to do this five more times.
After years of anticipation, ticketing woes, and infrastructure blunders, the world’s most beautiful game has landed in the City of Brotherly Love.
And soccer fans are feeling it.
The 68,274 attendees erupted when the West African nation broke the deadlocked game in the last seconds of regulation, leaving Ecuadorians stunned and distraught. Some covered their faces in disbelief.
“They fought, but we won,” Ivory Coast supporter Glenn Feidanga said.
Feidanga was the only person dancing in his section after spending the two halves surrounded by Ecuadorian fans. The momentary rivalry eventually gave way to high-fives and kudos.
“Everything is good,” he said.
While the Ecuadorian and Ivorian communities in the Philly-area are small — less than 15,500 residents claim Ecuadorian ancestry, and the number of Ivorians is difficult to estimate because the Census Bureau doesn’t tabulate them — their fans had no dearth of fervor or conviction.
Anything for your team
In the days and hours leading up to kickoff, celebrations have spilled into streets and SEPTA stations across the city — and supporters have been undeterred by oppressive heat and threats of severe weather. On Saturday, a wave of yellow, red, and blue flooded the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as thousands of Ecuadorian fans rallied and basked in their pride.
The Broad Street Line Sunday afternoon was inundated with Ecuador fans. Teeming train cars were full of yellow jerseys standing shoulder to shoulder, men and women alike. As the train pulled in, a song arose; full throat and deafening in the hot, cramped subway car.
“Let’s go, let’s go Ecuadorians, tonight we have to win!“
As the throng made its way out of the NRG Station, the fans’ hearts and voices swelled again.
A young Ecuadorian soccer fan sits under the Ecuadorian flag during a flag waving event at the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, ahead of Ecuador’s first round World Cup match against the Ivory Coast on Saturday, June 13, 2026.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Pacho Flores would go to any length for “La tri,” the nickname for the Ecuadorian national team. He had traveled from New York City and had paid $650 a ticket for his family of eight to see his team play in Philadelphia.
“It’s the most beautiful thing in the world,” Flores, a 62-year-old Ecuadorian native, said. “We have to follow the team to every game. It’s a blessing to have them play so close.”
Pacho Flores (left) and his son, Alex, dance wearing thickly knit Diablo Uma masks ahead of Ecuador’s World Cup match against Ivory Coast in Philadelphia Sunday, June 14, 2026.Michelle Myers /
Despite the 90-degree day, Flores and his son, Alex, wore thickly knit masks of Diablo Huma — an Indigenous protective sacred figure from the highlands of Ecuador — to represent his native town of Cañar.
“It’s not that hot inside the mask,” Alex said, wiping sweat from his brow, “and it’s worth it because we have to win.”
“Either way, we will still love the team,” his father added.
Ecuadorian soccer fan Demetrio Govrea watches fans during a flag waving event at the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, ahead of their first round World Cup match against the Ivory Coast on Saturday, June 13, 2026.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
The family won’t have too much time to idle: They head back to New York City on Monday morning to pack for La tri’s match in Kansas City on Saturday against Curaçao.
Ivory Coast fans Justin Bambara, Samska Lejah, and Couby Ouedraogo flew from Niger to New Jersey, then drove two hours to Philadelphia, and were confident in their team’s chances.
Members of the Ivory Coast national football team react while watching the Sixers Stixers drum line perform following their practice at Subaru Park in Chester on Friday, June 12, 2026 Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
“The yellows,” Bambara, 49, said, referring to the Ecuadorian fans’ jerseys, “need their support; we don’t need that, we are going to win.”
“We will invite them to beers once they lose,” Lejah, 55, said.
In the middle of it all, there seemed to be a marriage being put to test. Aurora Brown of Jacksonville, Fla., was attending FIFA Fan Festival with her family Saturday and said she is cheering for her home country, Ecuador. Her husband, Jamaal Brown, who had to stay back in Jacksonville, recently found out through a DNA test that he has Ivorian connections and is rooting for Ivory Coast.
Aurora Brown and the family pick out a soccer jersey for dad at FIFA Fan Fest in Philly. Dad Jamaal had to stay back home in Jacksonville, where he will be rooting for the Ivory Coast. But Aurora is sticking with Ecuador.Michelle Myers
“If they weren’t playing against Ecuador, the whole family would be Ivory Coast fans,” Aurora said.
“Ivory Coast is going to win and I will celebrate with some drinks,” Jamaal said over the phone.
“We are winners.”
Ticketing woes continue
This is the most expensive World Cup ever, and astronomical ticket costs and “dynamic pricing” have been a big gripe for many soccer fans.
Jayden Quezada, 17, and his parents spent $4,350 on Saturday to get three tickets to the next-day game through TickPick, a resale website. The trio traveled from Bensalem to Philadelphia hoping for an Ecuadorian victory. By the time they arrived at the stadium Sunday, the tickets were yet to be transferred to their FIFA app.
They were turned away at the door.
“They have been the biggest fans since before I was born and they don’t get to go back often because of work,” Quezada said of his parents who were trying to reach TickPick representatives on the phone. “We are probably going to try to get a refund but missing the game would be really sad because we were looking forward to feeling the Ecuadorian pride.”
Like the Quezadas, more than 50 people waited for help with their failed tickets, including Monica Rojas and Jose Avil who bought a pair of tickets and parking on StubHub for $2,000, only to learn their purchase had been refunded.
“I don’t know what we are going to do,” Avil said. “It feels defeating — now all we have is the tickets and the desire to watch them.”
Fans wait outside SEPTA’s NRG Station near the stadium following Ivory Coast’s victory over Ecuador Sunday night.Michelle Myers
Fan festivities
Meanwhile, watch parties were underway from Spring Garden to South Streets.
Ecuadorian singer Johann Vera commanded center stage at FIFA Fan Festival, roaring “¿Listos?”— “Ready?” — to a sea of yellow jerseys dotted by Ivory Coast orange.
“I thought there were more Ivorians in Philadelphia but I guess not,” said Swann Nemin, a Temple University student from Ivory Coast, visiting Fan Festival with her two Ivorian friends, Ornella Kouame and Naïke M. Their friend, Phoebe Mattes, who they joke is “Ivorian by preference,” joined too.
Ecuador takes the field for warm-ups before facing Ivory Coast in the World Cup Group E soccer match in Philadelphia on Sunday, June 14, 2026.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
The World Cup brought the friends together who were looking forward to dancing and celebrating with people from all over the world.
“I feel like it’s not only people from Ecuador but also people from South America that are cheering for Ecuador, in the same way that people from all over Africa are repping Côte d’Ivoire,” Nemin said.
Aleyda Alvarado, a Fishtown resident originally from Mexico, admitted that she isn’t the biggest soccer fan, but the World Cup always gets her and her friends to come out and celebrate.
“Everyone is here from different countries, but during the World Cup, we’re all just fans,” Alvarado said before kick-off. “That’s how soccer bring people together, and what makes me love it.”
At the dozens of tables across Brauhaus Schmitz, the German beer hall in South Philly, beer steins were dangerously close to empty. The Caddick family eagerly watched TV screens around the bar and rang cowbells as their team, Ecuador, closed in on the net.
Soccer fans watch Ecuador take on the Ivory Coast during a World Cup soccer watch party at Brauhaus Schmitz on Sunday, June 14, 2026.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Karina Caddick, 56, of Horsham, was born in Ecuador, just outside Guayaquil, a port city and the country’s largest metropolis. She moved as a baby, but her family made sure to instill in her the importance of and love for soccer.
To watch her native country’s team compete on her home country’s soil is quite special, she said.
“It’s unbelievable that we’re able to watch [the game] here,” Caddick said. “To be in Philadelphia and see all the yellow shirts, it’s incredible.”
But not everyone gets the hype. Outside Brauhaus, a man was overheard asking, “Why does everyone like soccer so much?” For those with connections to one of the participating countries, the answer is obvious.
“Soccer is everything to Ecuador,” Caddick said. “It is the main sport. It’s their spirit. It’s what calls them.”
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe scored and Australia spoiled Turkey’s return to the World Cup for the first time in 24 years with a 2-0 victory on Saturday night.
Goalkeeper Patrick Beach made eight saves for the Socceroos in their group opener as FIFA President Gianni Infantino looked on. Australia was playing in its sixth straight World Cup and seventh overall.
Turkey reached the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup but then missed five straight tournaments before qualifying this year by beating Kosovo in a playoff.
Irankunda broke through for the Socceroos in the 27th minute with a low shot while pursued by three defenders. It came less than a minute after the first-half hydration break.
Irankunda celebrated by punching the corner flag in a tribute to Australian soccer legend Tim Cahill. The 20-year-old who plays for Watford is the Socceroo’s youngest-ever goal scorer at a World Cup.
Minutes later Beach stopped Abdulkerim Bardakcı’s blast from distance. Beach started in goal for the Socceroos rather than experienced counterpart Matthew Ryan in a surprise decision from coach Tony Popovic.
Irankunda said the Socceroos took issue with comments Turkey captain Hakan Calhanoglu made a day before the match, proclaiming that his side had “more qualities and a more talented team.”
“Yeah, it was extra motivation,” Irankunda said. “Obviously we don’t like people to talk bad about us because we’re a great team. People underestimate us.”
¡LOS 'SOCCEROOS' DEBUTAN EN PLAN DOMINANTE!
Australia superó de manera sorpresiva a Turquía, quien no pudo descifrar el cerrojo del seleccionado australiano.
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) June 14, 2026
Kenan Yildiz, a 21-year-old who plays for Juventus, was not in the starting lineup but subbed in for Turkey at half-time.
Turkey had a dangerous free kick in the 57th minute, but Arda Güler’s attempt was saved by Beach. Güler, a talented 21-year-old attacking midfielder who plays for Real Madrid, was not yet born the last time Turkey played in the World Cup.
Connor Metcalfe capitalized on Ismail Yüksek’s turnover in the 75th minute to double the Socceroos’ lead. The Socceroos fell to France in the opener in Qatar but then beat Tunisia and Denmark in their group before getting knocked out by eventual champion Argentina in the round of 16.
Turkey maintained 72% of possession during the match and outshot the Socceroos 30-9, but couldn’t manage to score.
Australian fans celebrate their team’s opening goal during the World Cup Group D soccer match against Turkey, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Peterson)Emma Peterson
“I respect Australia very much. I was expecting that they would play in this way,” said Turkey coach Vincenzo Montella, who took the team to the quarterfinals of the European championships in 2024. “This is football. As for the critics, nobody has underestimated Australia, actually.”
It is the third World Cup appearance for the Turks, who reached the tournament for the first time in 1954.
The teams are in Group D with the United States and Paraguay. The Americans downed Paraguay 4-1 in their group opener on Friday in Los Angeles.
The U.S. is atop its group on goal difference over Australia, ahead of the teams’ matchup in Seattle (3 p.m., Fox29, Telemundo 62). The game was already widely-anticipated by U.S. fans, and now is even more so.
