This story has been updated.
The strident screams of joy that were expected at The Abbey Burger Bistro in Fell’s Point never materialized. That’s where the area’s soccer enthusiasts gathered for the official public watch party as FIFA announced the 2026 World Cup host cities.
A small crowd of about 20 people sat in the restaurant watching the announcement. Before the winning cities were announced, Jessie Wippo, a lifelong Baltimore resident who played soccer at Towson University prior to graduating in 2003, was full of optimism. Not so much afterward.
“Between D.C. and Maryland, the water, the seafood, M&T Bank Stadium, I don’t know what the criteria is but this stinks,” said Wippo, a self-professed Liverpool fan. “Baltimore is a soccer town.”
Later in the evening at M&T Bank Stadium, six public officials had expected to appear at a press conference to celebrate a winning bid. Instead, one showed: Terry Hasseltine, executive director of Maryland Sports and president of the Baltimore, Maryland 2026 bid. He said he was proud of the effort, but “disappointed that FIFA did not see through the fog, and see through the dark, that Baltimore Maryland in combination with Washington, D.C. was a one-two punch that deserved to host the World Cup in 2026.”
“This is just a blip in the radar, and we’ll come back, stronger than ever, and we learned a lot from this process, we’ve learned a ton from this process, but it’s not obviously the result that we wanted, and you can probably tell from my eyes, I’m extremely sad,” he said. The cities could be a training site or a base camp for an international team, providing an economic benefit, he added.
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When it became official that the Baltimore/Washington bid was not approved, the mood quickly went from anticipation to somber at Abby Burger Bistro.
As soon as they announced Philly would be a host city, you could feel the room deflate. Heard shortly after: “BOSTON?! But there’s nothing even near Foxborough!”
City officials, the local business community, international soccer fans, and aficionados of the World Cup — considered to be the most prestigious tournament and most widely viewed sporting event in the world — are not the only ones disappointed.
“The joint bid made sense because it’s not out of the way for people to bounce from Baltimore County to the city down to D.C. and on to Northern Virginia for activities, art, entertainment, dining, sporting events, et cetera,” said Brent Howard, a Morgan State grad who is the CEO and president of the Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce.
The five East Coast cities awarded the coveted host selections were Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami and New York/New Jersey.
Prior to the announcement, local officials were filled with hope.
“If we get the thumbs-up to be one of the host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, that would be the granddaddy of them all,” said Al Hutchinson, the president and CEO of Visit Baltimore, on Wednesday. “It would be like hosting five Super Bowls at one time. It would be a major deal where the international spotlight would be on all the great things that Baltimore has to offer.”
Bringing the world’s premier sporting event here would have been a once-in-a-lifetime experience, with fans from across the country and the globe descending on the Inner Harbor, Fort McHenry, and distinctive neighborhoods like Mount Vernon, Hampden, and Fell’s Point, among other local attractions.
Hours before the announcement, the excitement in Mayor Brandon Scott’s voice was palpable.
“My frame of mind is that I believe in claiming things,” he said. “Our team put in a lot of hard work to get here, so I truly believe that today is going to be a great day. We’re on the cusp of bringing the largest sporting event in the world here to Baltimore. I’m going to be so elated and excited that this has come to fruition.”
While Baltimore won’t get its soccer moment this time, M&T Bank Stadium has seen its fair share of other intoxicating moments over the years, as a raucous purple sea of fervent fans have basked in the glory of successful Ravens teams.
From former Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis giving James Brown a run for his money after materializing out of a smoky tunnel with his signature pre-game shimmy slide, followed by a gangster lean and primal scream as Nelly’s “Hot In Here” ruptured compromised eardrums nearby, to quarterback Lamar “Action” Jackson’s otherworldly 442-yard, four-touchdown masterpiece in the improbable 31-25 overtime comeback win over the Indianapolis Colts in October of 2021, the venerable structure can boast vivacious fan experiences that rival any other.
After submitting competing bids early on, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. decided to join forces in late April, with M&T Bank as the staging venue for the games and the National Mall hosting the FIFA Fan Festival.
While some initially considered Baltimore’s bid a long shot, it was boosted by two recent developments: the merger with D.C. and last month’s announcement that English Premier League clubs Arsenal and Everton will play in The Charm City Match at M&T on July 16.
The English Premier League previously played here in 2012 when Liverpool and Tottenham squared off in front of a sold-out crowd. Soccer enthusiasts will certainly flock to the city from near and far next month for a chance to see the likes of Arsenal superstars Martin Ødegaard, Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, and their Everton counterparts, Dele Alli and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
When the match was announced in May, Ravens President Sashi Brown said, “Our city and region have a proven passion for soccer, and the English Premier League is world class. This is not only a terrific event to showcase Baltimore, but it will further bolster the region’s already strong World Cup bid.”
Back when he was 3 years old, Sean Rush, who heads a local soccer club, couldn’t wait to get to Patterson Park to play in his first Youth Catholic League. Soccer ran through his family’s bloodline going back three generations. His great-grandfather played as a pro in Ireland, his grandfather played for the U.S. National Team, and his dad played at what was then known as Towson State.
In the summer of 1994, when America hosted the World Cup for the first time, his world was changed forever.
“The history of soccer in Baltimore is rich,” said Rush, the former pro who co-founded the Pipeline Soccer Club and now serves as its president. “We’ve produced some of the best players, right up there with cities like St. Louis and other hotbeds. But before 1994, there was no social media, the games weren’t on television and the American players were not household names. I was 9 years old during that World Cup.”
When AC Milan played Chelsea at M&T in 2009, Loyola University head soccer coach Steve Nichols joyfully watched as his sons walked onto the field and stood next to some of the sport’s all-time greats, like Brazilian legend Ronaldinho.
“If the World Cup came to Baltimore in 2026 and the kids in the local soccer community had a chance to watch the best players from all over the world in person, that would be an unbelievable experience,” Nichols said on Wednesday. “It would take the love of the game, which already exists here in abundance, to an entirely new level.”
Nichols pointed out that after 1994, American soccer and its presence on the international stage grew exponentially.
“Soccer is big here,” he said. “At Loyola, they’re still talking about the 1976 national championship team. You hear all these stories about the depth of talent back in the day, how good the soccer was at Patterson, Poly, Calvert Hall and the local universities. The roots here run deep.”
“There’s such an energy and you can’t really describe it and it can’t be replicated in any other sport,” he continued. “You won’t find it at an NFL game, an NBA, NHL or Major League Baseball game. It’s the world’s most exciting event. And to think that it could come here? Really? To Baltimore?”
Over at the Abbey Burger Bistro, Benjamin Kapinos could not hide his dismay when it was announced it wasn’t coming, declaring, “Needless to say, I’m very disappointed.”
Pete Caringi Jr., the local legend and long-time head men’s soccer coach at UMBC, was also taking in the letdown late Thursday.
“So many people were getting our hopes up and this just feels like a punch to the gut,” he said. “That event was something that the city needed, just the overall excitement of being on the world stage. I was at the World Cup Final in 1994 between Italy and Brazil, sitting with some of my friends in the stands at the Rose Bowl. It was so electric, it was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It was like an amazing festival before, during and after the game. With Baltimore losing out on its bid, I feel like I would if I just lost a championship.”
Ulysses Muñoz and Cadence Cadence Quaranta contributed to this story.
alejandro.danois@thebaltimorebanner.com
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