{"id":914173,"date":"2026-07-05T13:12:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T13:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/914173\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T13:12:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T13:12:26","slug":"what-international-fans-think-of-the-u-s-world-cup-metlife-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/914173\/","title":{"rendered":"What international fans think of the U.S. World Cup, MetLife and more"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is typically taboo to approach strangers on the subway. But this isn\u2019t a typical New York City summer.<\/p>\n

Not with the World Cup<\/a> sweeping the United States, Mexico and Canada, including eight matches at the Meadowlands<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Not with hordes of soccer fans from Europe, South America, Asia and Australia descending upon the biggest North American cities \u2014 all for the same reason \u2014 while bringing their unique cultures and traditions with them.<\/p>\n

So when a woman, in a distinctly British accent, made an unsolicited comment to a younger fan in a Germany jersey as he hopped aboard a Manhattan-bound F train, it wasn\u2019t met with an eye roll or a cold shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou must be happy,\u201d the woman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh yeah!\u201d replied the young man.<\/p>\n

It was June 20, and Germany had just eked out a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over the underdog Ivory Coast.<\/p>\n

For the rest of this subway ride, this unlikely duo \u2014 fans of bitter-rival teams, but united in a love of soccer \u2014 chatted about the sport.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s just one example of how World Cup fever is manifesting in New York City and the States.<\/p>\n

While interest in the tournament has been decidedly mixed among Americans (more on that later), the international diehards who traveled here have made their presence felt.<\/p>\n

Lively Scotland fans \u2014 known as the \u201cTartan Army\u201d \u2014 turned the Boston streets into an impromptu parade last month, blaring bagpipes and marching in kilts on their way to Fenway Park. They were still elated a day after Scotland opened the group stage with a win over Haiti in nearby Foxborough.<\/p>\n

Boston bars literally ran out of beer, with the parent company of Sam Adams saying its local taproom sold four times the normal amount during the Tartan Army\u2019s takeover.<\/p>\n

Norwegian fans have been similarly rambunctious.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve filled stadiums with their booming chants and viral \u201cViking row\u201d celebrations \u2014 on soccer game days, and when dozens of Norwegians congregated at Citi Field<\/a> to watch the Mets face the Chicago Cubs for the first game of a June 24 doubleheader.<\/p>\n

The Norwegians were the stars of Citi Field that day, weaving through rows in the center-field stands in conga lines, even as the Cubs tagged Mets ace Nolan McLean for six runs in six innings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the people of the United States have gotten a sense of what it\u2019s like to be a real football fan,\u201d Marie Lian, 25, of Bergen, Norway, told the Daily News.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Norway fans and, especially the Scotland fans, have brought a European hype to the [World Cup] that I think people are happy to experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NorwayNorway fans congregated at Citi Field for a Mets game on June 24. (Photo by Peter Sblendorio)<\/p>\n

Soccer organizations from countries including Norway and Sweden have assembled events \u2014 such as that Mets game \u2014 to help smaller contingents of their visiting fans get together in the U.S.<\/p>\n

But much of the reveling has been totally organic.<\/p>\n

Before matches along the East Coast, thousands of fans from France, England, Panama, Argentina and other countries have filled Times Square to sing, cheer and wave flags with their countrymen and countrywomen.<\/p>\n

To this point, those celebrations have been rowdy but civil, with rival fan bases showing respect to one another in these moments of soccer-loving unity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just brings the best out of the countries themselves,\u201d said Ricardo Acevedo, 42, of Panama City, who attended one of the Times Square meet-ups before England defeated Panama, 2-0<\/a>, in the Meadowlands on June 27.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether you\u2019re a small country, from Panama, or you\u2019re contending to win the World Cup with England, it brings out the best in all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RicardoRicardo Acevedo of Panama City (center) with his friends at New York New Jersey Stadium on June 27. (Photo by Peter Sblendorio)<\/p>\n

The games at MetLife Stadium \u2014 temporarily renamed \u201cNew York New Jersey Stadium\u201d for the World Cup \u2014 have been similarly electric.<\/p>\n

Traditional juggernauts such as France and England have predictably commanded considerable portions of the stadium\u2019s 80,663-seat capacity, but the fan bases of smaller countries have shown up, too.<\/p>\n

Part of that is because people from all over the world already live in the U.S. \u2014 and New York, in particular.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the United States, you have the melting pot. You\u2019re always going to have somebody, from any country that\u2019s playing,\u201d said Yehisu Filos, 47, who is originally from Panama City but now lives in Orlando. He made the trip to New Jersey for the Panama-England game.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it\u2019s small like mine \u2014 and Panama is really small \u2014 or Cabo Verde, which is really small, you still have fans here. You still have fans supporting them.\u201d<\/p>\n

And New York is at the center of it all.<\/p>\n

Not only is New York New Jersey Stadium hosting more games than any other venue, it will be the site of the final on July 19.<\/p>\n

Media members and social-media users have been critical of the decision to hold the final here \u2014 normally the much-maligned home of the Giants and Jets \u2014 but the fans actually going to the games have been more receptive.<\/p>\n

Several lauded the size of MetLife, saying it aligns with some of England\u2019s top soccer venues.<\/p>\n

Others praised the fact it\u2019s an open-air stadium \u2014 unlike, say, Dallas\u2019 AT&T Stadium, which has a retractable roof that largely stays closed during Texas\u2019 scorching summers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stadium looks nice,\u201d Tobias Wetterlund, 41, of Stockholm told The News before Sweden lost to France, 3-0, in the Meadowlands on June 30. \u201cThe surroundings could be nicer, but the stadium itself, it\u2019s nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a good stadium, but we know it won\u2019t be affordable for everybody,\u201d added French-born Ingrid Cabrae, 34, who now lives in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

\"IngridIngrid Cabrae (right) was among the France supporters who watched a 3-0 win over Sweden on June 30. (Photo by Peter Sblendorio)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret soccer hasn\u2019t achieved the same level of mainstream popularity in the U.S. as football, baseball, basketball or hockey.<\/p>\n

While most bars and restaurants in the five boroughs are showing World Cup games \u2014 many have even added TVs to air them \u2014 it\u2019s also quite possible for those who aren\u2019t interested in the event to ignore it.<\/p>\n

The Knicks\u2019 championship run bled into the start of the World Cup, which served as a local distraction, while all of the other forms of art and entertainment New York certainly haven\u2019t disappeared this summer.<\/p>\n

The World Cup is here, but to locals, it\u2019s not necessarily everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Europe, it\u2019s more football-focused, football fans,\u201d said Christoffer Lindberg, 40, of Stockholm, who also attended the World Cups in Germany (2006) and Russia (2018).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s honestly [been] more like a regular trip to the U.S., but with going to games and stuff like that. If you\u2019re outside of the arena or the fan festival, you don\u2019t notice the World Cup that much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, there seems to be some momentum.<\/p>\n

About 40% of U.S. adults said they have been following the World Cup on social media, while about 27% said they have or planned to watch a game at a bar or restaurant, according to an Ipsos Sports poll<\/a> published by The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

That poll took place after the U.S. team advanced out of the group stage but before it defeated Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Round of 32.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe longer the World Cup has been going on, the more you can feel the vibe from the U.S. people as well,\u201d said Wetterlund, who, in a party with Lindberg, followed Sweden throughout Texas before traveling to watch them at the Meadowlands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe U.S. has been playing well. There\u2019s a bit more talk about football, soccer. I think the overall ambience is getting better and better, and that goes with the U.S. playing well.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the ambience is undeniable among the international crowd \u2014 something that should continue Sunday as Norway faces Brazil in the Meadowlands in the Round of 16.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up in the UK in the \u201880s, where there was a bit more segregation of fans, I love the fact that, here, you\u2019re walking through the streets with England fans, Panama fans, and everybody\u2019s just getting on,\u201d said Paul Lowther, 48, of Caversham, England, who now lives in Toronto.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter your culture or background. Everyone\u2019s here just to have a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is typically taboo to approach strangers on the subway. But this isn\u2019t a typical New York City…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":914174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[88502,5229,6026,156,32980,405,403,369550,5226,5225,5228,5227,1608,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-914173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-2026-world-cup","tag-america","tag-england","tag-france","tag-metlife-stadium","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-new-jersey-stadium","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-panama","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116867548399963765","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=914173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/914174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=914173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=914173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=914173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}