Miami-Dade Commissioner Oliver Gilbert said at a press conference Monday that law enforcement is working with promoters and the stadium to make sure the incident doesn’t happen again. “We host big events. Well, I’ve never seen anything like I saw last night, and we’re not going to see that again,” Gilbert said. The debacle quickly drew questions about the United States’ preparedness for major soccer events, just two years ahead of a global showcase. The U.S. is set to host 78 out of the 104 World Cup matches as a co-host of the tournament in 2026, alongside Canada and Mexico. Although this isn’t the first Copa that the United States has hosted — the U.S. first took on hosting duties back in 2016 — for many, this championship was seen as a warm-up for the 2026 World Cup.
An estimated 5 million fans are expected to travel to the 16 host cities across the U.S., Canada and Mexico for the 38 days of the tournament, according to Sports Business Journal. This country has tremendous experience in event running; there’s probably no more skilled country on Earth, with the people in place, the organizations in place that know how to run games and keep fans safe. Bal noted the mishaps in the Copa tournament could provide a road map to making the 2026 World Cup a success. The coach of the Argentinian national team, Lionel Scaloni, told reporters at a post-match press conference last month that the fields were not in good condition and not apt for players.
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