Gianni Infantino may be the president of soccer’s global governing body, FIFA, but he knew enough in his first-ever visit to Philadelphia Thursday to drop multiple “Go Birds” into his remarks. (He did not drop in an “E-A-G-L-E-S …”)
Infantino was here to promote this summer’s Club World Cup and see how preparations were going for next year’s men’s World Cup, with stops at Lincoln Financial Field, City Hall and Lemon Hill.
He also brought a surprising, and significant, donation for the city’s soccer development.
“At FIFA, we are also aware of our social role and our social responsibility,” Infantino said at City Hall. “And as such, we want to donate to the whole city of Philadelphia … one million U.S. dollars, to be used as a legacy for being a host city of the FIFA Club World Cup.”
Infantino’s visit to Philadelphia was part of a tour of U.S. cities that will showcase soccer over the next year-plus. At the Linc, he posed with the tournament’s new trophy, as well as the Eagles’ two Lombardi trophies, Birds wide receiver A.J. Brown, Mayor Cherelle Parker and other city dignitaries.
He said that Philly’s history and sports culture were major reasons why it was chosen as a host city for both tournaments.
“Because everything started in Philadelphia, right? Almost 250 years ago, everything started here,” he said. “It’s a great city. It’s a great sports city.”
The Linc will be Philly’s venue for eight games in this summer’s Club World Cup and six games of 2026’s World Cup. This year’s tournament will feature the best club teams in the world and unveils a new format, switching the event from annual to every four years and greatly expanding the number of teams to 32 from the previous seven. It replaces the Confederations Cup as the tune-up competition for the World Cup.
Frank Gumienny, chief operating officer of the Eagles, said that the organization is ready for the new cadence of hosting several games over a couple weeks.
“We are getting to put our home — the home of the Eagles — on the grandest stage potentially in the world,” Gumienny said. “I mean, it’s a proud papa moment, right? To be able to take what we’ve done and what we’ve learned and what we’ve built and highlight the biggest names in the sports world this summer.”
Infantino’s U.S. visit included a meeting with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel at FIFA’s headquarters in Miami, as concerns rise that soccer fans might not be able to travel into and out of the United States, particularly with next year’s tournament being co-hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
Infantino said that FIFA has excellent relations with the Trump administration and seemed confident the U.S. would abide by the guarantees that were made when the country bid to serve as a tournament host.
“There are discussions ongoing of course when you have 10 million tickets for sale between this year and next year, and millions more of fans coming even without tickets wanting to be here to feel the vibe of the World Cup,” he said. “This creates, of course, a certain number of challenges that need to be addressed and we are working very, very hard. I would like to thank the Attorney General, the Director of the FBI, the government, President Trump, everyone for their engagement.”
Infantino also received a tour of East Fairmount Park’s Lemon Hill, which will be the site for the World Cup’s official fan festival next year.
“We are going all in when we think about how we activate this great park and how we make it ready to welcome the world,” said Michael DelBene, the executive producer of the fan festival who gave Infantino the tour. “The tagline that we often use is ‘welcoming the world with a Philly flavor,’ so this is going to be an authentic expression of the city of Philadelphia. Everyone who comes here will walk away, feeling like they have visited a lot of the city and gotten a lot of those great experiences.”
Meg Kane, Philadelphia Soccer 2026’s host city executive, said that the first phase of parks development, focused on the infrastructure work, will begin late this summer or early in the fall. The festival grounds will start being built in April 2026, then taken down in August of that year. Phase two will involve legacy upgrades to the park based on community feedback.
“Our conversations with President Infantino have really focused around our two-phase approach and the fact that, for us, having Lemon Hill be a legacy of Philadelphia’s hosting of the World Cup felt really important to us,” Kane said. “It combines a lot of our goals for the tournament of having that impact where residents for the several years after the tournament can look at Lemon Hill and say, ‘This place was improved because Philadelphia was selected to host the FIFA World Cup in 2026.’ ”
FIFA is also contributing to that legacy with that $1 million donation, which is being given to all 11 host cities for the club tournament. Infantino said the money should go to soccer facilities in areas of need and activities with local associations. A FIFA Foundation USA will be formed to distribute the funds, which will likely be presented after the tournament, the Inquirer reported.
Tickets are still available for this summer’s games, which is part of the reason for Infantino’s visit. Concerns about overcrowded schedules, player burnout and a potential strike action have shrouded the tournament.
Infantino said he was unconcerned about ticket sales.
“If in America you fill soccer stadiums for friendly games, then you know when you come with a World Cup where the best players who play really [want] to win a competition. For sure, it will be full,” he said.
FIFA is offering a total tournament prize pool of $1 billion, with the winners earning up to $125 million.
Tickets for the Linc’s games for the Club World Cup are available on FIFA’s website.
Group Stage
June 16 at 9 p.m.: Group D – Flamengo (Brazil) vs. Espérance Sportive de Tunis (Tunisia)
June 18 at noon: Group G – Manchester City (England) vs. Wydad AC (Morocco)
June 20 at 2 p.m.: Group D – Flamengo (Brazil) vs. Chelsea (England)
June 22 at noon: Group G – Juventus (Italy) vs. Wydad AC
June 24 at 9 p.m.: Group D – Espérance Sportive de Tunis vs. Chelsea
June 26 at 9 p.m.: Group H – Red Bull Salzburg (Austria) vs. Real Madrid (Spain)
Knockout rounds
June 28 at noon: Round-of-16 game
July 4 at 9 p.m.: Quarterfinal game
Next year, Philly will have five group stage games of the World Cup on June 14, 19, 22, 25 and 27. The Linc will also have a round-of-16 match on July 4, coinciding with the nation’s semiquincentennial celebrations.