What it was like to go to a World Cup match

My experience in Seattle

This post is a little different than my usual content; not specifically about Cities, Progress, or Parenting. But, I think it’s remarkable that we’re part of a civilization that can put on an event like the World Cup, so I’m sharing my experience in that spirit.

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Last Friday I attended the US vs Australia game in Seattle. Going to see the World Cup in-person is a bucket-list achievement that I’ve been eagerly awaiting (and, let’s be honest, saving up for!) since the announcement that the US would be hosting. I was especially excited to see a game in Seattle because we have family in the area, because the city is well known for soccer fandom, and because summers in the Pacific Northwest are so intensely magical they entice many people to live there year round. And I was especially especially excited that we’d be playing Australia, as I worked for an Australian company for many years, which left me with an affinity for (and sense of connection to) the country.

I’m not an athlete, but I’ve always been a “sports fan” in a general sense. When I visit new cities, I often try to see the local team play. I find it interesting to contrast how different games, teams, venues, and surrounding communities all combine. To me, the “game day experience” reveals a lot about how a city works, and how that city comes together.

To get to the game, we took the Link train from the northern suburbs where we were staying. Game day service was impressive. Sound Transit claimed they were running at maximum capacity, and I believe them. There were trains every few minutes, and while they were all relatively full, they were not overcrowded.

The crowd coming in from the train.

There were people directing traffic from the train station into the stadium. Everyone seemed to be in a great mood, the crowd was festive, and wayfinding was easy.

I had come by the stadium grounds a few days earlier just to get a sense of what this part of the city was like on an ordinary Tuesday, and the contrast was (as you may imagine), extreme.

Days before the event, the Pioneer Square¹ area just north of the stadium was so dead as to be uncomfortable.

It was so empty on a non-gameday I actually forgot to take pictures, but this Google Maps feels accurate.

With the crowd assembling for the game, the square was packed to bursting.²

The same square 3 hours before kickoff.

The entry into Lumen Field was one of the nicer and more noteworthy stadium approaches I’ve experienced. It really felt like you could just walk straight in from Second Avenue. The only drawback was the security screening. As far as I could tell, they were just doing normal stadium security (metal detectors and bag checks), but the queues were severely backed up and very densely packed. This was really the only negative part of the experience.

The approach to Lumen Field felt like walking straight in from the neighborhood.

The party was as much “around” the stadium as it was inside.

The atmosphere inside the stadium was wonderful, and notably different than most major events I’ve been to.

First, the crowd showed up early. The stadium was filling up an hour before the game, and was full thirty minutes before kickoff (unlike a typical football or baseball game, where fans are still trickling in for 20–30 minutes after the game starts).

The lead up to the game was quick, well-scripted.

Second, the crowd was paying attention. People were taking pictures and video, but otherwise I hardly saw anyone with their phone out. Even at halftime, people weren’t texting or doomscrolling.

In many ways, this was like being at a football game 20 years ago. We were all there for the same reason, and everyone was present. People were talking about the shared experience they were having together. It’s difficult to describe how that changed the experience, but it was really noticeable.

The players celebrating the win at the end of the game.

The final difference was the level of positivity around the event. I’ve been to many games where the crowd isn’t that invested in the outcome, and at those games the fan energy level is pretty low.³ I’ve also been to games where the fans are very invested in the outcome — especially SEC football games — and the fan energy is very high. But with that high energy, there’s usually an edge to the game. You see it in people getting angry, yelling and complaining at the referees, taunting the other team, etc. This is the only event I’ve been to where the fans were incredibly invested in the outcome, but without any of that negative edge.

All of this combined made this perhaps the most enjoyable major event I’ve attended. The game flew by, and in the end I found myself wishing it had been longer. Is this what it feels like to go to the Olympics?

Seattle did a remarkable job hosting. There were official FIFA helpers and Sound Transit guides everywhere, all of them seemed to be delighted to be there and were incredibly polite. I expect everyone who visited came away with a positive impression.

I don’t have a profound takeaway here, except to share what it was like. I realize I was extremely fortunate to be able to afford tickets, and not everyone can. But while we’re hosting the games, if you have the chance to make it to one of the host cities and enjoy one of the watch parties or other festivities around the event, I’d encourage you to go. I know that events like this can seem frivolous, and that “it brings the world together” is a cliché, but I do think there’s some truth to that. I feel that much more strongly now that I experienced it myself.

1. According to Google Maps, this particular block is actually “Occidental Square,” and a smaller park just north of here is “Pioneer Square,” but the whole area had signage that said “Pioneer Square,” so it’s not obvious to me how the locals refer to the specific plazas here.

2. There’s an unfortunate side note here: the city has a beautiful public space that’s severely underutilized when there isn’t a game happening. I don’t know Seattle well enough to recommend what the city should do about it, but in general I’d encourage cities to cultivate a more diverse mix of land uses so that places like this aren’t barren outside of major events.

3. Ehem… Almost every regular season baseball or basketball game.