2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup Countdown
In the fifth edition of our series highlighting 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup host markets, we’re putting Philadelphia – host of six games, including a Round of 16 game on July 4 – under the microscope. Whether you’re a marketer, a brand, or just a fan, we’ve gathered a sampling of insights to help you capitalize on Philadelphia World Cup soccer interest.
Market Overview
Before we dive into soccer-specific info, let’s start with a snapshot of the demographics of the Philadelphia metro area in comparison to the rest of the United States. Below are insights into population, age, race, family size, education, and income via the U.S. Census Bureau.
| Category | United States | Philadelphia |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 334,914,895 | 1,603,797 |
| Persons <18 years old | 21.7% | 21.1% |
| Persons 65+ years old | 17.3% | 14.7% |
| White, alone | 75.5% | 36.3% |
| Black, alone | 13.6% | 39.3% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 19.1% | 14.8% |
| Persons in HH | 2.57 | 3.01 |
| Language other than English spoken by age 5+ | 21.7% | 24.9% |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 34.3% | 36.3% |
| Median HH income | $75,149 | $56,517 |
The Philadelphia DMA is the fourth biggest television market in the U.S. with 2.94 million TV households. This accounts for 2.57% of all U.S. TV households. For comparison sake, here are the markets surrounding Philadelphia:
- 2. Los Angeles – 5.48 million (4.78%)
- 3. Chicago – 3.46 million (3.02%)
- 4. Philadelphia – 2.94 million (2.57%)
- 5. Dallas – 2.71 million (2.37%)
- 6. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose – 2.49 million (2.17%)
Noteworthy for the FIFA World Cup – FOX has an owned an operated station, WTXF (FOX29), serving the Philadelphia area, as does Telemundo, which owns and operates WWSI. The Mount Laurel, NJ station serves the Philadelphia region.
WORLD CUP HOST CITY INSIGHTS – MIAMI
Like what you’re reading and want to see more? We’ve got the same insights for Miami – the fourth market for which we did a deep dive ahead of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup.
Soccer interest in Philadelphia
Using 2024 data from the U.S. Census, MRI-Simmons, and Esri’s Market Potential Index, below is a table illustrating the percent of the DMA’s population who participated or is likely to participate in several soccer-specific categories. Also included are the respective indexes, highlighting the amount the DMA over-indexes relative to the general U.S. population.
| Category | % of Population | Index |
|---|---|---|
| Participated in Soccer/12 Mo | 3.08% | 98 |
| Watch World Cup Soccer | 8.26% | 100 |
| Watch International Soccer | 5.97% | 98 |
| Watch the U.S. Men's National Team | 4.38% | 100 |
| Watch the U.S. Women's National Team | 3.75% | 100 |
| Watch MLS | 4.85% | 101 |
Putting Philadelphia-Area Zip Codes under the soccer microscope
With background on the DMA and the relationship of its residents to soccer, let’s now combine the two and dive a bit deeper by identifying key zip codes with residents who over-index in soccer-specific engagements.
United States of Soccer
Soccer’s time has come. To grasp the impact the World Cup will have, you must first get to know the American fans and their passion for the sport. Soccer isn’t a trend — it’s here to stay and it’s growing fast. Our report goes deep into the American soccer audience, shedding light on its demographics, characteristics, and the factors that most shape fandom.
Using similar data referenced above, below is a map of the Philadelphia DMA that highlights specific zip codes meeting the following criteria:
- Over-index in participating in soccer in the last 12 months
- Over-index in likely demand for watching the World Cup on TV
Of the 529 zip codes within the DMA, 86 (16%) meet the above criteria. Notably, all but two (Atlantic City, NJ and Dover, DE) are within 50 miles of Lincoln Financial Field (host of six 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup games).
Curious which individual zip codes over-index most in both criteria? Check out the scatter plot graph below for more insight.
For ease of sorting and discovery, here are the top 20 zip codes for each category.
| Zip Code | 2024 Participated in Soccer/12 Mo (Index) |
|---|---|
| 19383 (West Chester) | 235 |
| 19716 (Newark) | 234 |
| 08544 (Princeton) | 233 |
| 19104 (Philadelphia) | 176 |
| 19102 (Philadelphia) | 168 |
| 19127 (Philadelphia) | 168 |
| 08105 (Camden) | 167 |
| 08611 (Trenton) | 162 |
| 19107 (Philadelphia) | 154 |
| 19149 (Philadelphia) | 154 |
| 19103 (Philadelphia) | 151 |
| 19374 (Toughkenamon) | 143 |
| 08110 (Pennsauken) | 141 |
| 19130 (Philadelphia) | 139 |
| 08609 (Trenton) | 136 |
| 19106 (Philadelphia) | 135 |
| 19123 (Philadelphia) | 133 |
| 19109 (Philadelphia) | 132 |
| 19148 (Philadelphia) | 131 |
| 08629 (Trenton) | 131 |
| Zip Code | 2024 Watch World Cup Soccer (Index) |
|---|---|
| 19374 (Toughkenamon) | 164 |
| 19109 (Philadelphia) | 152 |
| 19383 (West Chester) | 136 |
| 19716 (Newark) | 136 |
| 08544 (Princeton) | 136 |
| 19345 (Immaculata) | 136 |
| 19149 (Philadelphia) | 131 |
| 19102 (Philadelphia) | 130 |
| 19127 (Philadelphia) | 130 |
| 08542 (Princeton) | 129 |
| 19147 (Philadelphia) | 127 |
| 19107 (Philadelphia) | 126 |
| 19103 (Philadelphia) | 126 |
| 08611 (Trenton) | 125 |
| 19130 (Philadelphia) | 123 |
| 19148 (Philadelphia) | 123 |
| 19405 (Bridgeport) | 123 |
| 19087 (Wayne) | 123 |
| 19348 (Kennett Square) | 122 |
| 08629 (Trenton) | 121 |
Searching for “2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup“
We’ve still got some time before the tournament kicks off in June of 2026, but it’s interesting to note the search volume trends within the Philadelphia area. Below is the volume of Google searches for “2026 FIFA World Cup” since January 1, 2022.
Two notable spikes in searches are in June 2022 and November-December 2022. The former was the period during which FIFA announced the host markets for the 2026 tournament. The latter is during the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup when searches were likely increased due, in part, to preview discussions around 2026.
The next notable spike in search volume is from when the full schedule of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World cup was announced.
Note: the embedded graph will not populate if you use Safari as your browser. To view the graph, click here.