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FIFA Counters Reporting that Tailgating is Banned at World Cup Games (UPDATED)
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There were reports on Tuesday that tailgating won’t be allowed at World Cup games this summer, which FIFA responded to a few hours later:
“Additional fan information for all FIFA World Cup 2026 matches will be communicated in advance of the tournament.”
A ton of outlets are carrying this report, everyone from Fox News to Yahoo Sports and blah blah etc, though it doesn’t seem to have originated from a press release or conference. One of these writeups cites a guideline from a checklist at the Boston website that matches what Eagles Nation put in their tweet:
No Tailgating per FIFA policy: Please note that the traditional “tailgating” (eating and drinking around parked cars) is not permitted for these events per FIFA policy.
For what it’s worth, I can’t find this same line anywhere on the Philly World Cup site. There doesn’t appear to be a stadium FAQ published, at least not yet.
The FIFA statement seems to leave the decision up to local authorities, and tailgating has always been allowed at the South Philly sports complex. So there should be no restrictions from “host city public safety authorities.” We’ve handled huge events and concurrent events for decades now, including big exhibition soccer games, so I can’t imagine what would be different this time around. It seems like FIFA really wants to push these fan zones and hospitality packages and do things their way, which is to be expected.
But one of the great things about having the World Cup here was the thought of walking around and chopping it up with people of different cultures, from different parts of the world. I’m trying to get some of that Ivorian food when they play here in the summer, maybe mix it up with the Brazil fans before that 9 p.m. Friday night game. FIFA is seemingly coming in here with different rules that are more restrictive than what we’re used to, but the bottom line is that tailgating is a big cultural thing over here, and they should respect the way we like to do things, the same way they respected South African Vuvuzelas back in 2010. We had to listen to the BUZZZZZZ BUZZZZZZZ during every friggin game back then as Sepp Blatter explained to us that Africa moves to “a different rhythm” than everyone else. In this case, our rhythm is drinking beer and eating hotdogs in a piss-soaked parking lot, so leave us be and respect the culture.
We’re supposed to get a full rundown of the guidelines soon, for instance – can we just go to Stateside Live! and hang out there? Or do we need a game ticket to get inside the Linc perimeter? Questions like that should be answered soon enough. There’s an entire World Cup 2026 Philly committee sending out press releases and whatnot.
EDIT – here’s a statement from Philadelphia Soccer 2026:
“Philadelphia is a city defined by its fans and its traditions, and that will not change when the world arrives for FIFA World Cup 2026™. While our fan experience plans are still being finalized with our partners, we are committed to delivering a World Cup that is authentically Philadelphia — and that means celebrating the passion, the energy, and the game-day culture that makes this city unlike any other.”
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com