PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Logos for each of the 16 North American cities hosting 2026 FIFA World Cup matches were released Thursday. Philadelphia’s branding was unveiled at Lincoln Financial Field.
The FIFA World Cup 26 official brand was revealed at a launch event Wednesday in Los Angeles. It is the first time in FIFA’s history that an image of the trophy is combined with the year of the tournament. And the logo has been adapted to a unique brand identity for each host city.
“Every city has received its own color palette and its own patterns,” said Meg Kane, host city executive for Philadelphia Soccer 2026. In addition to an image of the World Cup trophy superimposed on the number 26, Philadelphia’s official World Cup branding includes the colors royal blue, light blue, red, bright yellow and green.
And for their motion graphics, FIFA has created abstract art on the banner depicting symbols of, or locations in, Philadelphia, said Kane.
“Use your imagination a little bit, but when you look at the icon of the two, six, you'll see sort of a lightning bolt. And when it's in motion, you'll see that moving. That is really their interpretation of the crack in the Liberty Bell,” Kane said.
Some of the background art is also meant to remind people of the “Rocky Steps” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
“Basically, it's parallelograms. And then, when they're in motion, it's supposed to give you the feeling that you're running up the steps.”
Chris Branscome with the Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association points out that the soccer player depicted in that image is local.
“Christian Pulisic is from Hershey, Pa. He is the captain of the U.S. national team. He currently plays for Chelsea in the English Premier League, and he's been widely recognized as one of the best players who ever played for the United States.”
Branscome says including Pulisic is a source of pride.
“It's really great for us that we have somebody from our backyard that we can put on the wall there. Not every city can claim that. So we're super fortunate that we've got one of the best players that can represent the state of Pennsylvania and our city throughout this whole event,” he said.
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Kane says the 2026 tournament is expected to be FIFA’s largest ever.
“There will be 104 matches played, so we expect that every host city will host between six to eight, six to nine matches,” she said.
“Soccer is the fastest growing sport in the United States. And we expect that this event, and hosting it in 2026, is going to accelerate that growth even more.”
The Philadelphia matches, which will take place in June and July of 2026, are expected to attract a lot of tourism.
“We will likely welcome more than half a million visitors just for FIFA World Cup.”
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