Work begins for Atlanta and World Cup now most teams are known

Some teams that will play World Cup group-stage matches at Mercedes-Benz Stadium next year may not be as well known as Spain or Morocco, but Dan Corso said he believes the city still will have the equivalent of five Super Bowls when the tournament plays its opening round in June.

“You’ve got a stadium that’s going to have a capacity that will be filled each match,” said Corso, president of the Atlanta Sports Council and the Atlanta World Cup Host Committee. “Then you’ve got people coming in, whether they’re visitors or just residents of the region or the state, or even the Southeast, that just want to be a part of it.”

Joining Spain, FIFA’s top-ranked team with social-media powerhouse players, are Morocco, the first African team to make it to a World Cup semifinal when it advanced in 2022, followed by Saudi Arabia, Haiti, South Africa and debutants Uzbekistan and Cape Verde, the 16 seeds, so to speak, in the tournament. Several other intriguing possibilities that could emerge from playoffs are Ireland, Denmark, Czechia and Jamaica.

The group-stage matches:

• June 15: Spain vs. Cape Verde, noon
• June 18: South Africa vs. playoff winner (Denmark, North Macedonia, Czechia or Ireland), noon
• June 21: Spain vs. Saudi Arabia, noon
• June 24: Morocco vs. Haiti, 6 p.m.
• June 27: Uzbekistan vs. playoff winner (DR Congo, Jamaica or New Caledonia), 7:30 p.m.

“Exciting to have two of those teams coming in for the first time,” Corso said. “It’s a great city, a welcoming city, to have those fans come in. We know they’re going to be excited, as it’s their first World Cup, and so we’re looking forward to that. But I think very solid group, and it’s highlighted by Spain.”

The city will host three more knockout-round matches:

• July 1: Round of 32, noon
• July 7: Round of 16, noon
• July 15: Semifinal, 3 p.m.

The noon start times will be good for fan activities before and after the matches because of expected heat or possible storms, Corso said. He didn’t think the poor attendance for Club World Cup group-stage matches held during the summer in Atlanta were a barometer of what could happen during the World Cup. The three Club World Cup group-stage matches, which had start times of 3 p.m., 3 p.m. and 9 p.m., had an average attendance of 32,000.

The total attendance for the six Club World Cup matches was 258,265, topped by the 66,937 in the city’s final quarterfinal between Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain. The average attendance for the six matches increased was 43,044.

“Having Spain in our first match is going to be fantastic, and having them play twice here is going to really do well for us,” Corso said. “But I think operationally, the Club World Cup allowed the stadium and FIFA to learn how it runs events, how the stadium runs events, and make sure that they’re in sync. And I know that portion of the tournament went very well here.”

Now that the teams that will play here are mostly known, Corso said the logistical work has begun. Spain has scheduled an upcoming visit to tour the possible base camps in the state. Uzbekistan is scheduling a tour. South Africa has already toured the sites. The state has three possible base-camp sites — Atlanta United, Kennesaw State and Mercer — the teams could be assigned to by FIFA.