Philadelphia celebrates 100 days until FIFA World Cup with pep rally
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is just around the corner and the excitement is building across the world and in the City of Brotherly Love.
The 2026 tournament will run from Thursday, June 11, to Sunday, July 19, and will be held in 16 cities across three countries, with 11 in the U.S.: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco/Bay Area and Seattle.
The first match at the Lincoln Financial Field will be Sunday, June 14, between Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and Ecuador.
With 100 days to go, Philadelphia Soccer 2026, the nonprofit responsible for planning and executing the FIFA World Cup in coordination with the City of Philadelphia, kicked off the countdown with a high-energy pep rally.
Hosted by Eagles star Brandon Graham, the pep rally was held on Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in the Comcast Technology Center Concourse.
”We have it in our city, so let’s represent the best way we know how, and let’s do it. I’m excited, let’s go, baby,” said Graham.
The party, which included music and swag giveaways, gave people a small taste of the fan fair that will take over Philadelphia.
“I don’t know, people from around the world are ready for Philly culture, it’s pretty rowdy, people get out there,” said Manan Patel of Philadelphia.
The excitement also included the launch of the “How Do You Phan?” toolkit on the Philly FIFA World Cup Site, which helps people learn more about the teams playing in the city.
“We greet people with ‘Go Birds.’ There are other countries that do similar with other chances or comments. Think of allez la bleu for France. That’s their version of ‘Go Birds,'” said Meg Kane, CEO/Host City Executive, Philadelphia Soccer 2026.
Despite other host cities starting to scale back, Kane tells NBC10 that Philadelphia is still committed to hosting one of the biggest fan fests in the country at Lemon Hill, 39 days of free family fun open to the public.
“For us, it’s the way to ensure that the World Cup will be for everyone,” said Kane.
Also, to celebrate the 100 Days milestone, the official tournament poster was unveiled:
FOX will broadcast and stream every World Cup game in the U.S. across its channels and platforms. Telemundo and Peacock will broadcast and stream games in Spanish.
The full game-by-game schedule is here.
