Atlanta takes in the final World Cup Draw

Atlanta’s World Cup future has finally come into focus with teams now drawn for the group stage. On Friday, hundreds of Atlantans descended on Fadó Irish Pub in Buckhead Village for a party hosted by Atlanta’s World Cup Committee to watch the FIFA Draw announcement at Washington D.C.’s John F. Kennedy Centre, where the qualifying teams were split into four-team groups. (The detailed schedule—with match dates, times, and locations—was announced Saturday in a separate event.)

Recently retired Atlanta United goalkeeper Brad Guzan emceed an event full of scarf throwing and t-shirt giveaways. The party skipped most of the preamble at the Kennedy Centre—such as the live music performances and President Trump’s winning of the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize—for DJ EU (Atlanta United’s DJ) to play music. People wore jerseys from dozens of nations around the globe, cheering as their team was called, and watched a draw that saw the U.S. Men’s National Team selected into Group D with Australia, Paraguay, and one of Turkey, Kosovo, Slovakia to be decided in a playoff.

Atlanta will host eight World Cup matches in a tournament played across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The Atlanta games are as follows:

• Monday, June 15 — Spain vs. Cape Verde (Group H) at 12 p.m. ET
• Thursday, June 18 — South Africa vs. Czech Republic/Denmark/North Macedonia/Republic of Ireland (Group A) at 12 p.m. ET
• Sunday, June 21 — Spain vs. Saudi Arabia (Group H) at 12 p.m. ET
• Wednesday, June 24 — Morocco vs. Haiti (Group C) at 6 p.m. ET
• Saturday, June 27 — Uzbekistan vs. Democratic Republic of the Congo/Jamaica/New Caledonia (Group K) at 7:30 p.m. ET
• Wednesday, July 1 — Round of 32
• Tuesday, July 7 — Round of 16
• Wednesday, July 15 — Semifinal

Of note, Spain plays two matches in Atlanta as the odds-on favorite to win the World Cup, with international stars Lamine Yamal and Pedri. Morocco reached the semifinals in the 2022 World Cup and return with a strong side favored to make a deep run in 2026.

Photograph by Xavier Stevens

Atlanta will host eight World Cup matches in the tournament hosted across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Over the past several months, millions of dollars have poured into downtown Atlanta in the form of major developments (Centennial Yards at the Gulch, Five Points MARTA Station) to revitalize the area surrounding the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The City of Atlanta plans to build more sidewalks, repave roads, and put up more signage and lights to make navigating easier. But with 192 days to go, the questions remain if these investments will be ready for visitors in June and can last after July.

In Buckhead, the message, for now, is hope. Mayor Andre Dickens spoke with the media and touted infrastructure initiatives underway, as well as microloans for small businesses downtown to upgrade and prepare for visitors. “There’s a whole lot of construction going on now to get as much done before the World Cup starts,” he says. “We want to do things that will last a long time not just for this FIFA moment, because there will be an Atlanta in 2027.”

Dickens estimated the World Cup could bring anywhere from $500 million to $1.5 billion to Atlanta with long-term economic impact. “This gives bragging rights to the City of Atlanta, and when the semifinals are played here and they do a pan out shot of our skyline, people will see Atlanta is the place to be,” he says. “That builds credibility so that people will do conventions here, sales meetings, invest in a headquarters or regional hub. I hope folks are thinking, I want to do business here in the South.”

Photograph by Xavier Stevens

Over the last decade, Atlanta has recruited and hosted several U.S. major single-day sporting events. The World Cup, however, will last 30 days, and presents a logistical challenge for the city last seen at the 1996 Olympics. “We have had a successful model of hosting the big games, and now the World Cup is a new but exciting stage for us,” says Dan Corso, head of Atlanta’s World Cup Committee. “Many partners will have to be part of our success, and we’ve got great facilities, people, and organizations working together to make it happen.”

Jonas Sjöquist, an Atlanta local, attended the draw today in hopes of seeing where Sweden (which still needs to win in a playoff to qualify) would land. He has already bought a team ticket package for the 2026 World Cup, and attended both the 2014 and 2018 editions in Brazil and Russia. “I don’t think Americans understand how much of a cultural phenomenon the World Cup is,” he says. “There’s going to be an influx of people from all over the world—Tunisians, Senegalese, Swedes, Colombians—that makes it feel like a party for the world. It’s face-melting amazing.”

Sjöquist regularly attends Atlanta United games and uses MARTA to get to and from downtown. “I think MARTA is easy for getting to Mercedes-Benz, but I don’t think it’s super easy to get around town,” he says. “I hope our transit can handle the influx, because the public transit has been really good at the other World Cups I’ve been to.”

Brent Cander was another local in attendance. He hopes the World Cup can have real change on the downtown neighborhoods he lived in while attending Georgia State University in the late 2000s. “Downtown has changed a lot, but I just want to see it sustained after the World Cup,” Cander says. “Especially for those neighborhoods to grow not just commercially but residentially, too.”

According to Corso, Saturday’s more specific announcement of kickoff dates and times and where games will be played will give Atlanta direction on events and how the city will pitch itself to visitors for the World Cup.

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