Right now, Atlanta is on the world stage. The 2026 FIFA World Cup is underway, and our city is hosting eight matches at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (officially "Atlanta Stadium" during the World Cup) — including a semifinal — making Atlanta one of the most prominent venues in this historic tournament spanning the United States, Canada, and Mexico. For fans, it is a celebration of skill, passion, and friendly competition. For UNA-Atlanta, it is something more: a living demonstration of the values at the heart of the United Nations and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Atlanta Welcomes the World
Atlanta is welcoming players and supporters from across the globe, bringing together nations that may share little beyond a love of the game — soccer, or football as the rest of the world calls it. That, of course, is precisely the point. The United Nations has long recognized sport as "a powerful vehicle to advance peace, tolerance, and understanding" — and no sporting event embodies that spirit quite like the World Cup, where 48 nations compete and billions watch as one.
Sport and the Sustainable Development Goals
The connections between soccer and the UN's 2030 Agenda run deeper than the opening ceremony. Consider how this tournament touches several of the 17 SDGs:
The UN Office on Sport for Development and Peace has documented how sport reduces barriers, promotes gender equality, supports youth development, and builds social cohesion in communities recovering from conflict. Football, played in every country on earth with nothing more than a ball and open ground, is perhaps the purest expression of that truth.
When a child in Atlanta watches a player from Spain, Morocco, or Uzbekistan compete on their home turf, something quiet but important happens: the world gets a little smaller, and a little less foreign. That sense of shared humanity — of rooting for something together — is the seed from which lasting peace grows.
An Invitation to Engage
UNA-Atlanta encourages our community to experience the World Cup not only as spectators, but as global citizens. And the good news is that you don't need a stadium ticket to be part of it.
Centennial Olympic Park will serve as FIFA's official Fan Festival hub here in Atlanta, running for 18 days beginning June 11. Admission is free — simply register in advance (up to six tickets per person) — and the festival offers live match broadcasts on big screens, food, and live music performances from Atlanta favorites. It is, in many ways, the most democratic version of the World Cup: open to all, rooted in community, and held in a park that Atlanta has shared with the world since 1996.
Whether you join the crowd at Centennial Park, host a neighborhood watch party, or simply strike up a conversation with a visitor from another country, there is a place for every Atlantan in this moment. And when the tournament is over, carry that spirit forward — in advocacy, in education, and in the daily work of building the more peaceful and equitable world the UN Charter envisions.
The beautiful game reminds us that when we play by the same rules and respect one another across every difference, we all win.
Atlanta Welcomes the World
Atlanta is welcoming players and supporters from across the globe, bringing together nations that may share little beyond a love of the game — soccer, or football as the rest of the world calls it. That, of course, is precisely the point. The United Nations has long recognized sport as "a powerful vehicle to advance peace, tolerance, and understanding" — and no sporting event embodies that spirit quite like the World Cup, where 48 nations compete and billions watch as one.
Sport and the Sustainable Development Goals
The connections between soccer and the UN's 2030 Agenda run deeper than the opening ceremony. Consider how this tournament touches several of the 17 SDGs:
- SDG 10 — Reduced Inequalities: The World Cup draws players from every economic background and every corner of the world. The pitch is one of the few arenas where a nation of millions can stand equal to a superpower.
- SDG 11 — Sustainable Cities and Communities: Atlanta has invested in accessible transportation, inclusive public spaces, and community programming around the tournament — each a step toward building a more sustainable and welcoming city.
- SDG 16 — Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions: FIFA's founding ideal — that nations can compete fiercely and then shake hands — is itself a model of peaceful coexistence. For ninety minutes, rivals become neighbors.
- SDG 17 — Partnerships for the Goals: Hosting a World Cup is inherently multilateral. It requires international cooperation, shared standards, and a commitment to a common set of rules that every nation agrees to honor.
The UN Office on Sport for Development and Peace has documented how sport reduces barriers, promotes gender equality, supports youth development, and builds social cohesion in communities recovering from conflict. Football, played in every country on earth with nothing more than a ball and open ground, is perhaps the purest expression of that truth.
When a child in Atlanta watches a player from Spain, Morocco, or Uzbekistan compete on their home turf, something quiet but important happens: the world gets a little smaller, and a little less foreign. That sense of shared humanity — of rooting for something together — is the seed from which lasting peace grows.
An Invitation to Engage
UNA-Atlanta encourages our community to experience the World Cup not only as spectators, but as global citizens. And the good news is that you don't need a stadium ticket to be part of it.
Centennial Olympic Park will serve as FIFA's official Fan Festival hub here in Atlanta, running for 18 days beginning June 11. Admission is free — simply register in advance (up to six tickets per person) — and the festival offers live match broadcasts on big screens, food, and live music performances from Atlanta favorites. It is, in many ways, the most democratic version of the World Cup: open to all, rooted in community, and held in a park that Atlanta has shared with the world since 1996.
Whether you join the crowd at Centennial Park, host a neighborhood watch party, or simply strike up a conversation with a visitor from another country, there is a place for every Atlantan in this moment. And when the tournament is over, carry that spirit forward — in advocacy, in education, and in the daily work of building the more peaceful and equitable world the UN Charter envisions.
The beautiful game reminds us that when we play by the same rules and respect one another across every difference, we all win.
