The football world is coming to America, but not everyone is welcome this time | Football News
5 min readNew YorkJun 10, 2026 06:29 AM IST The billboard finds you before you find it. Step out of the subway at Times Square and there it is — three storeys of France’s Kylian Mbappé, his face stretched, jaw set, eyes fixed on something beyond the frame. Next to him, is the Brazilian, Vinicius Jr. Football’s global stars are sparkling from the Manhattan skyline. This is New York in the days before the FIFA World Cup 2026, which begins on June 11, and the city is doing what it always does with the world’s attention — absorbing it, amplifying it, making it feel like it was always meant to be here. “Back in the day, it was all about supporting the country of your ancestry,” says Nathan Jones of the American Outlaws, the US national team’s supporters’ group. “It is changing — and that in a sense is the beauty of football in America”. A mall at Columbus Circle has installed a countdown clock nearly three metres tall. The Empire State Building has lit …
