World Cup brought out Seattle's best
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Seattle's biggest World Cup win wasn't on the pitch. It was showing visitors — and maybe even Seattleites — what this city looks like at its best.
Why it matters: For three weeks, Seattle has been a global gathering place, full of unity and joy, even as much of the world feels increasingly divided.
State of play: Seattle hosts its sixth and final FIFA match — U.S. vs. Belgium — today at 5pm.
What they're saying: "We brought the best of Washington to the world and the best of the world to Seattle," SeattleFWC26 CEO Peter Tomozawa tells Axios.
How they did it: Organizers focused on everything around the matches — free fan festivals, neighborhood events and public spaces — to encourage visitors to explore beyond the stadium, Tomozawa says.
- The goal was to make sure everyone — ticketed or not — could take part in the revelry.
- "We figured the games would take care of themselves," he says. "We wanted to lift our whole community."
The scorecard:
- Sold-out matches
- Sound Transit's busiest day ever, with 280,000 riders on June 19
- Lime's biggest day in city history
- More than 750,000 visits to official fan celebrations
- Record crowds at Waterfront Park.
National outlets also showered us with praise.
- The Athletic ranked Lumen Field the tournament's top stadium experience.
- Action Network named Seattle the No. 1 U.S. host city for fans.
- And in perhaps the tournament's most unexpected accolade — The New York Times crowned the Seattle dog America's best regional hot dog.
Plus: Some U.S. Men's national team players were "raving about the crowd. And the city, in general," Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan told the Tacoma News Tribune. "You know, some of them even spoke to me about playing for Seattle in the future."
The bottom line: Seattle has often been defined in recent years by headlines portraying its challenges. During the World Cup, another story took center stage.
- The games gave some people their first chance to see what "the world can be like when we are all together and unified," Tomozawa says. "That was a heart-bursting moment for me."