Not Feeling The Excitement

The 2026 World Cup, hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States this time around, is currently taking place. Here's Shank to take a dump on the event:

We are Boston, so can we stop worrying and just enjoy the World Cup? Doubt it.

The World Cup is here and it’s all the rage in Greater Boston.

You can’t gas up your car, pick up an iced coffee at Dunks, or take a walk through your neighborhood without engaging in a conversation about Haiti vs. Scotland Saturday night in Foxborough. Every grade schooler from Eastport to Block Island knows that French superstar Kylian Mbappé has a chance to break the World Cup’s all-time scoring mark before the month is out. World Cup fever is a local epidemic.

Actually, none of this is true.

Here in the Route 1 corridor between Boston and Foxborough, the vaunted Cup has largely been a source of irritation and inconvenience. Ticket prices are astronomical, transportation promises to be confusing, local municipalities worry about congestion/security, and advocates have warned international fans about heightened immigration scrutiny.

Sounds like a party, no?

There was lots of celebration when FIFA — soccer’s ever-suspicious and all-powerful worldwide governing body — named Boston one of its 11 American host cities in June 2022. But our four-year run-up has been a study in chaos, confusion, and fiscal uncertainty.

Big surprise, right? I mean, did we really expect smooth sailing and universal agreement in a process that involves FIFA, the MBTA, the FBI, the governor of Massachusetts, the mayor of Boston, the mighty Foxborough Select Board, Meet Boston, Robert Kraft’s estimable empire, and mega-sponsors such as Coca-Cola and State Street?

I think that,by and large,these complaints are commonplace with any city that's hosting an event where tens of thousands of people are descending on a stadium for a few hours, so this isn't unique to Boston / Foxborough as Shank's made it out to be. Second - I had a temp job where I worked the five games that were hosted at the okd Foxborough Stadium when the United States hosted the event in 1994, so I've watched it ever since that time. Third - I was at a CVS today and ran into two gents from Scotland, and one of them was wearing a kilt. I talked to them for a few minutes and they mentioned the three hours it took them to get back to Quincy from last night's match at Foxborough, so Shank's right about that part. Still, the point stands - this isn't a uniquely Boston thing.