It was billed, enthusiastically, as a World Cup warm-up. The , staged in america, was seen by some as a costume rehearsal. It arrived, , then Dallas, then 12 different U.S. cities, as a fútbol fiesta. It additionally felt like an appetizer for the grandest sporting occasion on Earth — the boys’s World Cup, which is , larger and extra bombastic than ever.
However over 4 messy weeks, . On Sunday, it .
And so, slightly than whet American soccer appetites, it sparked all kinds of questions and considerations concerning the nation’s readiness for 2026.
The considerations are wide-ranging and comprehensible. The 2024 match, a pan-American championship, was dogged all alongside by , , , and, in the long run, dysfunction. A . The — at a 2026 World Cup venue, Laborious Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
However no, the occasions of the previous 4 weeks don’t essentially spell doom for 2026.
This was a , the South American soccer confederation.
FIFA, soccer’s world governing physique, has already spent much more money and time and manpower — the primary that it’ll handle fully by itself, slightly than by delegating that duty to a neighborhood organizing committee.
And FIFA, certainly, has been watching. Native officers in World Cup host cities actually have been over the previous month. The Copa América “wasn’t a match that we have been concerned in, by way of planning,” Lauren LaRusso, the co-chair of the New York/New Jersey 2026 World Cup host committee, advised Yahoo Sports activities final week. “However it’s the second-largest match to return by means of, from a soccer perspective, and useful in making observations.”
A lot of these observations associated to the movement of followers, to safety and transportation. However in these areas, earlier males’s World Cups and the 2024 Copa América have been very completely different.
The fairly apparent, foreseeable, preventable downside on Sunday in South Florida was .
At previous World Cups, and in 2026 plans, there are fences and boundaries ringing the stadium, maybe chopping by means of parking tons, with followers and automobiles funneled to preliminary checkpoints a whole bunch of ft away from the venue.
In idea, then, nobody may even get near a stadium gate and not using a ticket or credential. And in the event that they do breach the equipment, it’s simpler for safety to get the scenario below management.
That doesn’t assure order. There have been breaches and chaos on the 2021 Euro ultimate and . If hundreds of ticketless followers desperately wish to see a sport, hassle can ensue.
However that wasn’t the first downside Sunday. The issue was that some ticketless followers — it’s unclear what number of — have been allowed so near stadium gates. At World Cups, essentially the most fascinating occasion within the sport, there was no such hassle since 2014 — when at Brazil’s Maracanã. Most, if not all, have been detained; the havoc didn’t unfold.
Sadly however understandably, the Copa América debacle may result in a heavier-than-already-planned safety and police presence in 2026. It may make entry to video games an much more tedious course of. It may create inconvenience.
A repeat of Sunday’s scenes, although, appears impossible.
One of many real challenges that the Copa América portended is hellish transportation to and from stadiums. Most of the aren’t simply accessible through public transport.
Over the previous month, numerous followers — from New Jersey to Kansas Metropolis and past — bought caught in lengthy traces of vehicles. Some missed kickoff. And World Cup organizers know that the inflow will probably be even larger in 2026.
They is perhaps higher ready than CONMEBOL and native authorities have been this summer time. They’ve already been crafting transportation plans. They’ll organize shuttle buses. They’ll devise different options. They know this can be a concern.
However there’s solely a lot they will do at stadiums surrounded by nothing however highways, concrete and asphalt. Many followers will probably be compelled to resort to ride-sharing companies, which can spike the World Cup’s price ticket even additional. (Hopefully these followers don’t must climb down a deadly, un-staired hill, as some needed to earlier this month on the ride-share dropoff level exterior Arrowhead Stadium.)
One other frequent grievance from followers all through the Copa América was that price ticket. Even the most cost effective, most distant tickets to some matches value a whole bunch of {dollars}.
The World Cup spin right here is twofold — and nonetheless considerably unsure:
1. , resembling Ticketmaster. Notorious “dynamic pricing” schemes drove costs by means of the roof. FIFA, however, is not going to rely so closely on third-party ticket brokers — or at the least it hasn’t prior to now. It usually runs ticketing itself. We subsequent 12 months.
2. The World Cup, although, is a splashier occasion than Copa América. FIFA may nonetheless set a really excessive worth level. Again in 2017, whereas bidding to host the match, North American officers proposed that the most cost effective “Class 4” tickets can be comparatively inexpensive. However ultimate say isn’t theirs; it’s FIFA’s.
What the Copa América did foretell, in a constructive mild, is a large groundswell of curiosity and festivity. Sure, round 23% of seats have been empty; however over 49,000 individuals attended the common sport, even on the absurd ticket costs. Notable groups like Argentina and Colombia attracted sell-outs. Most of the .
Touring supporters even gathered in Occasions Sq. and out of doors workforce resorts. The evening earlier than the Copa América ultimate, earlier than the chaos, and lit up Miami. On two completely different events exterior MetLife Stadium in Jersey, . These — slightly than tears and terror — ought to have been the lasting photographs of the match.
The opposite unavoidable concern that spanned the match, from opening weekend to finale, . Followers fainted Sunday amid the crush. However earlier within the match, gamers additionally suffered; at the least one, Uruguay’s Ronald Araújo, exited a sport feeling dizzy. A day later, an . He was taken to, and later discharged from, a close-by healthcare facility. CONMEBOL confirmed that he’d “suffered from dehydration.”
The priority, with respect to 2026, was maybe a bit exaggerated by the continued June-July warmth wave sweeping the U.S.. However, however, the planet is warming; this, doubtlessly, is the brand new norm. Of the in June and July 2026, 10 skilled temperatures over 90 levels Fahrenheit in June; some topped 100 levels.
In some, the priority is mitigated by closed-roof stadiums. These will make matches a extra nice expertise. However attending to and from the matches continues to be a fear and consideration.
Probably the most consequential . Organizers can’t fully neutralize warmth and humidity, however they may, for instance, put a sport in Kansas Metropolis at 9 p.m. as an alternative of 5 p.m. native time — and fill afternoon slots with indoor video games
We’ll see in the event that they do. The complication is the published schedule. Our .
The primary subject with indoor video games, naturally, is the enjoying floor. Laying and sustaining grass fields at NFL stadiums, resembling AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, “is a large problem,” 2026 World Cup chief Heimo Schirgi stated on a go to to JerryWorld final 12 months.
Those laid down for the 2024 Copa América grew to become a frequent level of criticism for gamers and coaches. On opening evening, the pitch at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez stated. All through the match, he, teammates and opponents stated that others weren’t significantly better.
There are essential variations between the Copa América surfaces and those already in growth for 2026, nonetheless. The World Cup course of will probably be way more intensive.
In Atlanta, for instance, a short lived grass area was patched collectively and positioned atop synthetic turf mere days earlier than the Copa opener. , irrigation and air flow programs have already been put in in preparation for the World Cup. from the College of Tennessee and Michigan State to guide analysis. They’re already cultivating the extremely particular grass that can underpin the in 2026.
That doesn’t imply the fields will robotically be excellent. Grass will seemingly be a speaking level because the match approaches. However right here, and in different areas, the World Cup shouldn’t be the “catastrophe” that the Copa América was.