ARLINGTON, Texas — When St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol learned his team had an unexpected Saturday off in the middle of a road series, his first thought was getting to a World Cup match.
The question he asked: “Can I make it to the soccer game?”
The FIFA World Cup, the international soccer tournament that takes place every four years, is currently underway across 16 host sites in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Eleven of those markets are also home to a total of 13 Major League Baseball teams, creating an unusual and exciting overlap between the two sports.
Kansas City is hosting six World Cup matches at an NFL stadium located in the same complex as the Royals’ ballpark. When the Cardinals visit Kansas City for a three-game series opening Thursday, both teams will have Saturday off — the same day Ecuador takes on Curaçao in a World Cup match.
“That is the goal, yes,” Marmol said when asked whether he planned to attend.
Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino is also planning to go, along with his wife, who played soccer at Old Dominion University.
“It’s strange, but it’s special circumstances,” Pasquantino said. “It’s awesome that Kansas City got access to World Cup games. So, however many years until the United States hosts again, we’ll be all right with some off days like that.”
This marks the first time World Cup matches have been held on U.S. soil since 1994.
In the Dallas-Arlington area, AT&T Stadium — home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys and located right next to Globe Life Field — is set to host a tournament-high nine matches. The neighboring Texas Rangers will have a Monday off on July 6, the date of a round of 16 match, sandwiched between two home series.
Texas is currently wrapping up a three-game series against Minnesota, which concludes Thursday, following a Wednesday pause when England faces Croatia in its World Cup opener.
Rangers designated hitter Joc Pederson, who grew up playing soccer in California, called the experience something rare.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Pederson said.
The Rangers also got a taste of World Cup fever during a recent road trip to Boston. Thousands of Scottish fans filled Fenway Park, chanting and singing the night after Scotland beat Haiti in the country’s first World Cup appearance in 28 years. That match was held at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, roughly 30 miles from Fenway.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said the energy from the Scottish supporters made the ballpark feel like a European soccer match. The experience was so electric that he and most of his coaching staff are now scrambling to find tickets to a Cup game.
“It was so much fun that on the off day the majority of our staff is trying to find a way to get tickets to go to a game that they know really nothing about because of the atmosphere that was so incredible,” Schumaker said. “The passion was insane.”
In Philadelphia, the Phillies will have a day off Friday during their home series against the New York Mets, coinciding with Brazil’s match against Haiti at nearby Lincoln Financial Field.
Like the Rangers, Royals, and Seattle Mariners, the Phillies’ home stadium shares a parking lot with an NFL venue hosting World Cup matches. The nearly six-week tournament features 104 total matches with 48 nations competing.
Both Texas and Kansas City are off on July 3 for round of 32 Cup matches. The Rangers will have already started a series against Detroit, while the Royals are set for an unusual Saturday-through-Monday home series against the Phillies.
At MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, World Cup matches are scheduled on eight dates — and either the Mets or Yankees have a home game on every single one of those days. That includes the championship match on July 19, when the Yankees also host Shohei Ohtani and the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Yankee Stadium sits about 14 miles from the Meadowlands, with Citi Field approximately 24 miles away.
On the West Coast, World Cup matches at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood will be about 13 miles from Dodger Stadium and 35 miles from Angel Stadium. The Dodgers or Angels will be playing at home on six of the eight match days in Inglewood, with the remaining two falling on regular off days during homestands.
In cities like Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Miami, and Toronto — where the stadiums are farther apart — teams will still play multiple home games that overlap with World Cup matches in their markets.
The Angels will also experience a split series during a trip to Seattle, with a midweek break scheduled July 1 for a round of 16 match.
The Mariners originally had a home doubleheader planned for Saturday against Boston, the same day the United States was set to play Australia in Seattle. However, when the match time at Lumen Field was confirmed for noon local time on Friday instead, the Mariners and Red Sox adjusted to a traditional three-game series starting Friday night — avoiding what would have been MLB’s first scheduled doubleheader in two years.
