With Philadelphia’s final World Cup game Saturday, the city’s international soccer tourists, who have created generational memories for weeks here, will be heading home.
From the sea of yellow-jerseyed Ecuadorians taking over the Rocky steps, and possibly cursing the team, to Ivorian soccer fans dancing outside the streets of Fan Festival, or the four Frenchmen who lied to their bosses to be here, global soccer fans have been thriving in Philadelphia.
And there’s no better place in the world to celebrate fandom than in Philly, said Côte d’Ivoire-born Philadelphian Ahmadou Dia, who moved to the city a decade ago.
“This is wonderful for Philadelphia and wonderful for America, welcoming everybody into this beautiful country,” Dia said. “The World Cup, the football itself, brings every country, every single person, together regardless of color. It doesn’t matter what you look like, because on the field or in that stadium, we’re family.”
The World Cup is one of those global events where fans save thousands of dollars for years to make their way across the world to watch their favorite team.
Ecuadorian native Francisca Castellanos traveled 14 hours to meet her father and other family in Quito, before heading to Philadelphia in time for the World Cup. Her father, Francisco, has attended the last 10 World Cup tournaments, including the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. When the United States was announced as a World Cup host, the Castellanoses were overjoyed.
» READ MORE: World Cup fans are spending money in Philly. How much will actually stay in the city?
“A World Cup in the U.S is a lot more accessible to Ecuadorians because a lot of our population already lives in the U.S., and the currency is the same,” Castellanos said. “There is also language accessibility because people speak English here, unlike in Qatar, where communication was harder.”
The six matches played in Philadelphia brought tourists from Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Curaçao, Ecuador, France, Ghana, Haiti, and Iraq, but where Philly’s World Cup and America’s 250th tourists are coming from spans the globe.
Fraser McNaughton, a Scot visiting Philadelphia with family, couldn’t believe how inviting Philadelphians have been as he took photos with the Rocky statue last week.
“Everywhere we’ve went, everyone’s been so friendly, so welcoming, helping us out when we need it,” McNaughton said. “It’s just a brilliant city.”
“They go out of their way to say ‘Hello’ or ‘Welcome to Philly’ here,” said fellow Scot Michelle Thomson. “We’ve really loved it.”
Here are the main takeaways, based on flight data shared by Sojern, a hospitality marketing platform that provides travel data to hotels, airlines, and tourism boards.
Ecuadorian travelers surged this World Cup
Ecuadorians don’t make up a sizable chunk of the international travelers coming to Philadelphia this summer. Canada, the United Kingdom, and Italy take that crown, in that order.
However, Ecuadorian travelers, like the Castellanoses, were so pumped to experience a World Cup in person that the number of flights booked from Ecuador to Philadelphia surged by 622% compared to the year prior. Philadelphia hosted Ecuador’s first group match in the World Cup, convincing many Ecuadorians to make the 2,760-mile trip to the City of Brotherly Love.
Danilo Carrión is a member of the group that organized the Ecuadorian event at the Rocky steps, where more than 2,000 Ecuador fans showed up to dance, sing, and accidentally jinx their team after putting Ecuador merch on Rocky.
“It was the first game for Ecuador, so a lot of the Ecuadorians from Ecuador and the U.S. had to be here because there was a lot of expectation,” Carrión said.
To the Ecuadorian-American who lives in New York, the influx of people was facilitated by an ease of travel between the South American country and the U.S.
“It’s easier for us to travel to the States than to Europe or Qatar,” Carrión said. “And there are direct flights to LaGuardia and New York.”
Ecuadorians require visas to enter Europe, Canada, and the United States. Even traveling to Mexico can involve visa procedures if they don’t have a U.S. visa first, a formality that has become more complex since Ecuador and Mexico broke international relationships in 2024, Carrión said.
Dutch Caribbean islands show up for Curaçao
The small autonomous nations of Curaçao, Aruba, and Sint Maarten, all part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, have seen a huge surge in flights this summer.
Curaçao had the largest increase, almost 240%, despite being the smallest nation ever, with a population of 158,006 people, to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.
“When we won tickets through the FIFA lottery for the Curaçao versus Ivory Coast in Philadelphia, we knew we had to make it happen, especially since the Curaçao match falls on my husband’s birthday,” said Vanessa Santine-Vinck, who traveled here from Curaçao with her partner and two sons.
Travel from Sint Maarten and Aruba are also up — 193% and 117% respectively.
Croatia and Hungary aren’t missing Philly’s World Cup
Croatia claimed victory over Ghana at Philadelphia Stadium on June 27, and flights from the European country have jumped almost 100%.
Neighboring Hungary has also seen a dramatic increase. There are almost 200% more flights from Hungary this summer than last summer.
Dominican Republic shows steady growth
Philadelphia’s Dominican community has grown in recent years, helping drive population growth in the city.
With the World Cup in Philly this summer, travel from the Caribbean nation has increased 34%. While DR is not in the World Cup, their neighbor, Haiti, faced Brazil on June 19, losing 3-0.
Philly’s French connection brings throngs of tourists
This summer has brought a notable uptick in French tourism to Philadelphia, with 33% more flights. The cross-cultural connection runs deep, Parisian aesthetics have long influenced the city’s architecture.
Throngs of Francophones across the city cheered on their national team to a 3-0 victory against Iraq on June 22.
France also ranks fourth in terms of total foreign travel this summer after Canada, the U.K.I, and Italy. Between the architecture, the French cuisine, and the fact that two of his family’s favorite teams, France and Côte d’Ivoire, would play in Philadelphia, traveling to the city was an easy choice for Frenchman Elias Pierson.
He had already heard of the comparisons between the city and Paris, and as he walked through Independence Hall with his family last week, much of the architecture he saw reminded him of home.
“We have a good relationship with the people of Philadelphia. We were just in the train station with a Philadelphian, and she explained to us where we needed to go and where the best French restaurants are,” Pierson said. “My favorite part of Philadelphia so far is City Hall and Old City because of the very beautiful buildings.”
Now, before Pierson heads home, he said he hopes to get a coveted seat at Philly’s world-famous French bistro, Parc.
