FIFA President Gianni Infantino told a kickoff party crowd at the LA Memorial Coliseum on June 9 that Los Angeles is about to be "invaded by a horde of barbarians," referring to the influx of soccer fans arriving for the 2026 FIFA World Cup [1]. He reassured the city, saying, "But it's happy barbarians, don't worry" [1].
The 2026 World Cup will be jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada and will feature a record 48 national teams, up from 32 in previous tournaments [1, 2, 3, 4]. Infantino called the event the "biggest and greatest FIFA World Cup in history" [3].
The tournament begins on June 11 in Mexico City, with Los Angeles hosting the first U.S. match on June 12 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The match’s opening ceremony will include performances by Katy Perry, Future, and Anitta [3, 4].
Los Angeles is set to host eight matches and will feature 10 fan zones across the area, creating a festive atmosphere for the influx of fans [1, 2, 3]. Infantino described the scale of the event as equivalent to staging "104 Super Bowls" over just a bit more than a month, referring to the total number of matches played across the three host countries [1, 2, 3, 4].
Infantino highlighted the diversity of fans attending, saying "Men, women, children, grandparents, doesn't matter, they will all have their faces colored with the colors of their countries," creating a "sea of national colors" in host cities [2, 1, 4]. The tournament will feature a quarter of the world’s countries on the field and will be followed globally by billions [1, 2, 3, 4].
"For the next month and a half, we can call it football or soccer, as long as we enjoy and have fun," Infantino added [1].
The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off in less than two days on June 11, with Los Angeles primed for its first match on June 12.
