Although the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup officially started on Thursday — and is already more than 10% complete — today is when it really starts to feel real in Seattle as we host our first game.
The World Cup will be here for the better part of the next month and we want to make sure you have the tools necessary to look like the soccer expert all your friends and family expect you to be.
Let’s dig in.
Who’s playing here and when?
Here’s the schedule:
- Today: Belgium vs. Egypt, noon
- June 19: USA vs. Australia, noon
- June 24: Bosnia & Herzegovina vs. Qatar, noon
- June 26: Egypt vs. Iran, 8 PM
- July 1 (Match 81): Round of 32, Group G winner vs. Best 3rd place team from groups A, E, H, I or J, 1 PM
- July 6: Round of 16, Winner of Match 81 vs. winner of Match 82
The new issue of IV: The Sounder at Heart magazine is now available for pre-order. Issue 2 focuses on Seattle’s role in the 2026 World Cup.
Iran is still playing here?
Yeah, this has been the subject of a lot of discussion for the rather obvious reason that the USA has been bombing Iran for a couple of months. It’s the first time in history that two teams involved in the World Cup have been engaged in active hostilities with one another, let alone one as the host. When that first started, Iran said they couldn’t send their soccer team here (which, frankly, made sense). Then President Trump said he wasn’t sure he could ensure Iran's safety, which seems to have prompted Iran's leadership to assert their right to play, but strongly request that their games be moved to Mexico. FIFA swatted away both concerns and insisted that the games would go on as scheduled. Finally, a "compromise" was reached, with Iran setting up base camp in Tijuana, Mexico. Although Iran’s ambassador said the team was being forced to fly into and out of the United States on the same day, there have been reports that Iran is actually doing their matchday-1 training in Los Angeles. Either way, this doesn’t seem like an ideal scenario but it seems to work for now.
The TL;DR is that, yes, Iran's game against Egypt is going on as scheduled.
And that should be a normal affair?
As you may remember, that game was originally scheduled to be the "Pride Match" as it’s happening the Friday before Seattle's "Pride Week" celebrations. Iran and Egypt are not exactly the most inclusive countries and have openly protested that classification. Iran has since requested that all flags not recognized as national flags be banned from the stadium, which many speculate is also intended to keep the Persian flag of the previous regime from flying. As of now, there doesn't seem to be a clear resolution. SEA26, the local organizing committee, has gone quiet about the whole thing. The city of Seattle, for its part, has said it will refuse to enforce any flag bans.
Which of the other games are most interesting?
I don’t think there’s any point in pretending as if the most anticipated of the group stage games isn’t USA-Australia, especially after Friday's performance. This is the first time the USMNT has played in the Pacific Northwest in nearly a decade and the get-in price for this game had been hovering around $1,000 basically ever since tickets went on sale, and has now spiked to closer to $2,000. Add in the fact that Australia is expected to bring a healthy contingent of supporters and it’s hard to argue that this is the game most people will focus on and might be the most anticipated soccer game in Seattle history.
It could be a real bellwether match for the USA, too. If they have any hopes of winning their group — or even finishing top 2 — they will almost certainly need three points from this one, especially after Australia beat Turkiye 2–0 on Saturday. The good news is that the USMNT has gone 6–0–0 in competitive matches in Seattle all-time, most recently beating Ecuador 2–1 in the 2016 Copa America Centenario.
But there’s also a scenario where the Round of 16 match features Belgium vs. USA, if both teams win their groups and then advance out of the Round of 32. Suffice it to say, that would be an absolutely massive match as it would put the USA one win away from its first World Cup quarterfinal since 2002.
Jeremiah Oshan
Seems like we’ll be seeing a lot of Belgium?
Yeah, and those games are only part of why. Not only are three of Belgium's first five games likely to be played in Seattle – they’d also play here in the Round of 32 if they win their group – but they have another group stage game in Vancouver, B.C. On top of all that, they’re using the Sounders’ Longacres facility as their training base.
Are Belgium any good?
At No. 9 in FIFA's rankings, they are the top-ranked team that will play in Seattle, at the very least. They also have a bunch of really good players, maybe the best of which is Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku. He absolutely terrorized the USA in their friendly a month or so ago.
This team also has some real connection to the so-called Golden Generation who is now cycling out. You likely know the names Kevin De Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois and Romelu Lukaku, all of whom are still on the team. None of them are quite at the heights they were even as recently as a couple of years ago, but they are still capable of some magic.
Andrew Clausen
Anyone else spending an extended time here?
I suppose I’m showing some bias by not mentioning Egypt more prominently. They, too, feature a genuine star and will be spending an awful lot of time in the Pacific Northwest for the next month or so.
Egypt is, of course, led by Mo Salah, who not so long ago was considered one of the best players in the world. In 2024–25, he had 34 goals and 23 assists for Liverpool across all competitions. But he slumped to just 12 goals and 10 assists last year in what was considered a pretty disappointing season for Liverpool. Egypt doesn't have much history of success at the World Cup — in fact they’ve never won a game in the tournament — but they are one of the most decorated teams from the African federation and could certainly make some noise.
They will be even more directly connected to the region than Belgium, playing two group stage games in Seattle and a third in Vancouver, while also training in Spokane. It’s a longer shot, but they could also play their first two knockout stage games in Seattle if they were to win their group.
Tim Ostlund-Foss
Are tickets still super expensive?
The short answer is yes, the tickets remain quite expensive. But if you’re not quite as picky about who you want to see, the Bosnia-Qatar and Egypt-Iran games currently have tickets available for less than $300. I’ve been predicting that these will get cheaper the closer we get, but the price has remained more stubborn than I expected. As ridiculous as it seems, this might be the market and FIFA seems OK with leaving some seats empty.
That said, there are ways to get much cheaper tickets. The city of Seattle recently announced that it had helped secure 1,400 free tickets for youth and their caregivers to various games, while Airbnb is offering free tickets to certain matches with bookings. Bank of America also partnered with Vet Tix to offer tickets to veterans and first responders nationwide, with at least one match in Seattle already offered.
How different is Lumen Field going to be?
First off, it’s called "Seattle Stadium" during the World Cup. Aside from the name change, they’ve extended the gates of the stadium out quite a bit, essentially expanding the concourse area into the North Lot to allow for various advertiser booths, concession stands and food options. They are also opening the gates 2.5 hours before kickoff. At other stadiums, I’ve heard of long lines to get in but I have no idea how bad that will be here. One thing is for sure, though – they want you to feel free to hang out for awhile.
Where should I watch games?
Basically every bar in town will reliably have their TVs tuned into Fox or Telemundo for these games, so I don’t think you’re going to have any trouble finding someplace to watch this game. The issue is going to be finding the "right" place to watch. We have a whole story that helps explain how you might want to go about doing that, but there are some big public events that might be worth checking out, even if only for a big game or two:
- The official fan events are being held at Pier 62 on the Waterfront, Victory Hall near the stadium, Seattle Center, and Seattle Soccer House at Pacific Place. I would check out their schedules before heading down and be aware that Pier 62 requires pre-registration.
- Pioneer Square's Occidental Mall has been transformed into "Brick Park" and seems to have proven to be pretty lively for a lot of the big matches.
- If you’re more inclined to watch the game in a park or community center, the city of Seattle is staging 17 viewings on various days throughout the city.
- In other words, there are so many good options that you can surely find something that suits you or your family almost perfectly.
How bad is traffic going to be?
I think I’ve been asked this question more than any other besides "tickets are so expensive!!!!" (which admittedly isn’t really a question). But my guess is that it won’t really be that bad, unless you’re intent on driving around the Pioneer Square area.
That's partly because I’m really skeptical of FIFA's projection – that I’m still hearing repeated – that 750,000 people will visit Seattle during the tournament. Considering capacity for the six games is about 400,000, we’d need all of the ticket buyers plus another 350,000 people who don’t have tickets to be in town for these games. With most hotels reporting that their bookings are actually trending behind last summer, those visitor numbers seem very unlikely to come to fruition.
The one exception for this might be the USA-Australia game. I think there’s a very good chance that as many people without tickets as with tickets will descend upon SoDo and Pioneer Square for that game. Get there early.
Otherwise, the truth of the matter is that there are probably more out-of-town guests for a random Seahawks game than there will be for most of these World Cup matches.
Does that mean I should just drive to games?
No, I would not recommend that. As it is, FIFA took over the North Lot and about 20 square blocks around the stadium will be turned into a bike-and-pedestrian-only zone. That area will be closed to cars about four hours before games and you won’t be able to park there starting at 2 AM. If you insist on driving, I would suggest using a service like SpotHero to secure a parking spot ahead of time.
The good news is that not driving has never been easier. There are going to be extra light rail trains, Sounder trains, buses and ferries running throughout the tournament, as well as extra bike parking at the stadium, though be aware that non-folding bikes will not be allowed on trains during match days.
Jeremiah Oshan
What’s the scene going to be like around the stadium?
Given all the pedestrianized space around the stadium, the outdoor screens and the pop-ups that are planned, I think it will be pretty festive. I’m not here to tell you how to spend your free time, but even if you don’t have tickets I think the energy around the stadium on gameday will be pretty sweet.
I’ll also give a shameless plug for the event we have planned around the USA-Australia game. We’re combining forces with the Scuffed podcast to throw an all-day affair at Fast Fashion in SoDo, which includes doors opening at 8 AM, a watch party during the game and even a postgame live podcast.
Is this going to be fun?
I understand all the trepidation around this tournament. FIFA has seemingly done everything in its power to suck the fun out of it. But I’m genuinely impressed by the work Seattle has done to make this the best it can be. I urge everyone to go to at least one of these public watch events and to head down to the stadium district for at least one gameday. This is likely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I’d hate for people to deny themselves the opportunity to enjoy it.
