Mayor Zohran Mamdani today released a World Cup promotional video celebrating New York City’s place at the center of the 2026 FIFA World Cup™.
The video features U.S. Men’s National Team star Tim Weah, players from Gotham FC including Midge Purce and Bronx native Morad Fareed, alongside players from Bronx High School of Science, where Mayor Mamdani played soccer as a student.
Filmed at iconic locations across New York City, including the American Museum of Natural History, the video captures what makes this city the soccer capital of the world: kids on Bronx schoolyards, women competing at the highest level of the sport, immigrant communities that have made soccer a part of the city’s fabric and a mayor who grew up playing in the city he now serves.
“I grew up in this city watching the World Cup with neighbors whose roots stretched across every corner of the globe,” said Mayor Mamdani. “That is what makes New York so special: the whole world already belongs here. This summer, we get to share that with everyone. I have never been more proud to be a New Yorker or to serve as mayor of this city.”
The video draws from across the Mayor’s first months in office, including Soccer Streets programming, the Gotham FC sideline and a Champions League Final watch party at FancyFree in Brooklyn. It also features members of Bronx Science’s soccer team and players who represent what New York soccer looks and sounds like today.
Fareed, who was born and raised in the Bronx, was part of a historic moment when Palestine mounted its first-ever campaign to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup™. Weah, another product of New York City, enters the 2026 World Cup as one of the leading figures on the U.S. Men’s National Team. Fareed also founded FC Mother, which holds a partnership with the World Cup host committee in Monterrey, Mexico.
The Gotham FC players in the video include Midge Purce, Jordynn Dudley, Bruninha, Andrea Kitahata and Sarah Schupansky.
New York City will be a premier host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup™, with matches taking place at MetLife Stadium and fan programming throughout the five boroughs.
Featured image credit: DepositPhotos.com
