South Florida has prepared to put on an experience for soccer fans from all over the world who want to be part of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. In downtown Miami, Bayfront Park has been transformed into a center of futbol for everyone to enjoy. The official FIFA Miami merch tent will feature FIFA W orld Cup 2026 Miami official T-shirts, hats and much more that people can come into the store to check out. The fan fest at Bayfront Park will open Saturday, with plenty for fans to enjoy. Included will be a mini soccer pitch, rock climbing, ski ball and many other activities for fans of all ages. Also featured are 42 food vendors from all around the world and four large screens that will broadcast all the games. During the games, there will be live performances, with 700 live entertainers from around the world. Over 30,000 people are expected to attend daily, and the expectation is that it will be at capacity every day. Local officials spoke on what’s to come and some of the safety measures in place. “All ages will be here, and they’ll be able to watch the games for free while they’re enjoying the music, the dancing, the food — of course, our specialty — and Bayfront Park is our centerpiece, so working together with our host committee, this has been a labor of love,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “We’re working very closely with our federal, state and local partners to make sure that we have seamless communications across all channels and we have officers that have been specially trained to work the event,” said City of Miami Police Chief Manny Morales. “We’ll have uniformed officers, undercover officers, and we’re going to leverage all the technology available to us — not only the cameras here, but drones and other technology we won’t go into today.” Doors open to the public Saturday, and the event will run until July 3. All the action kicks off Thursday afternoon with the opening match of Mexico versus South Africa. ...read more read less