Civic/Sporting • Philadelphia Soccer 2026 • 2025-2026
Philadelphia Soccer 2026
From Community Groundwork to the FIFA World Cup Fan Festival
This did not start with the tournament. It started long before it, in rec centers and university atriums, on street corners with paint cans and trash bags, and in packed happy hours where community leaders and business owners talked about what it meant for Philadelphia to host the world.
Taíno Studios was brought in by Philadelphia Soccer 2026’s community impact team to document the journey, from early community gatherings in 2025 through the final day of the 39-day FIFA World Cup Fan Festival. The work spanned the full range of what embedded community coverage means when a global sporting event comes to a city.
Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Mixer
Business leaders, community organizers, and World Cup stakeholders gathered to discuss what hosting the tournament could mean for Philadelphia and its Latino business community.
Rising Stars Initiative
Young participants completed a World Cup-connected program, presented their ideas, and stepped forward as part of the next generation shaping Philadelphia’s future.
MLK Day Community Cleanup
Volunteers, organizers, and soccer supporters came together for a neighborhood service project rooted in the idea that civic pride begins with showing up.
Philadelphia Union Happy Hour
Supporters and community partners gathered around Philadelphia’s professional soccer club as local excitement for the World Cup continued to grow.
Drexel University Gathering at Gather Food Hall
Students, university partners, and community stakeholders connected as part of the broader effort to bring Philadelphia’s institutions into the World Cup experience.
Pan American Academy Mural Painting
Students created alongside Mural Arts Philadelphia, connecting youth expression and public art to the city’s preparations for welcoming the world.
As the tournament approached, we documented the 100 Days Out pep rally and received an early look inside Lincoln Financial Field. The 39-day Fan Festival then became the public climax of everything that came before it.
100 Days Out Pep Rally
Philadelphians filled the streets as the countdown became real. The gathering transformed anticipation into a public expression of city pride.
Lincoln Financial Field First Look
An early look inside the stadium documented the visual transformation and preparations taking shape before World Cup matches arrived in Philadelphia.
Mexico vs. South Africa and Luis Fonsi
Opening day brought international soccer, Latino pride, and live music together as fans gathered for the first major public chapter of Philadelphia’s Fan Festival.
Brazil vs. Haiti
The match brought two passionate communities into the same public space, filling the festival with flags, celebration, and shared cultural energy.
Leon Thomas
The concert expanded the festival beyond soccer, capturing how music and performance became part of the citywide experience.
Wisin
Wisin’s performance brought the scale and energy of the festival into focus, connecting a global sporting event with Philadelphia’s Latino audience.
On opening day, we were simultaneously on assignment for Philadelphia Soccer 2026 and Impacto Media, creating photographs that supported both organizational storytelling and independent reporting.
The priority was never only the match, stage, or finished spectacle. We photographed the fans, families, flags, volunteers, students, artists, business leaders, and community partners who helped build Philadelphia’s welcome. We were in the trenches documenting all of it. The whole arc, not only the highlight reel.
Photographs from the partnership appeared across Philadelphia Soccer 2026’s website and social platforms, with selected images also used through the City of Philadelphia’s official channels and Impacto Media’s print, web, and social reporting.
“We were there before the spectacle, documenting the people, partnerships, and community work that made it possible. By the time Philadelphia welcomed the world, the story had already been unfolding for more than a year.”
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