World Cup fever has hit metro Detroit in the most beautiful, intense, dramatic and unifying way.
A massive crowd of about 2,000 crammed into Dearborn Peace Park West on Tuesday, June 16 − everybody hanging on every moment of action, riding waves of emotion and energy, staring at a big screen as Norway beat Iraq, 4-1, in a 2026 World Cup soccer match.
Little kids waved Iraq flags. Others sported Iraq team uniforms or beat drums. And everybody seemed to groan in unison when Iraq wasted a scoring chance. Others reacted in the universal language of frustration: the sports Cobra. Both hands on top of their head.
But when Iraq scored a goal? When there was some hope? Everybody jumped up and down and danced and clapped and sang and screamed in pure joy.
“I literally wanted to cry,” said Noura Jassem, 27, of Dearborn, who wore an Iraq flag as a cape. “I was just going crazy. I was so excited, so happy.”
They plan to show every game of the World Cup for free at this park, wedged between two parking structures. Some games have drawn about 100 people. Other games have turned into a massive, sprawling spectacle.
“We wanted to bring people together in a friendly, safe, family atmosphere,” said Hussein Hachem, the organizer. “It’s crazy. I’m not just happy, I’m overwhelmed. We didn’t expect that many people to show up, to be honest with you. It is really heartwarming.”
It’s amazing how soccer can bring everybody together. People from different countries.
And before you say: Why aren’t they rooting for the United States?
Well, they are.
“Come here on Friday, there’s a USA game and we’re gonna be here!” Hachem said. “We are U.S. citizens.”
So, they root for the U.S., of course, but they also root from the country where they came from. Or their parents. Or their grandparents. Or whoever.
Isn’t that the essence of America?
“We’re a country of immigrants,” Hachem said. “We will root for America.”
But also the country where their family originated.
And on Tuesday night, it was Iraq’s turn.
There were so many people jammed into this park that some fans stayed in the parking structure and watched from above, hanging over the railing, screaming and waving flags.
“It brings everyone together from all over the world,” Jassem said. “We come and sing. We have fun. We enjoy, regardless of what team it is. We’re always cheering every single day. This is literally just joy. It’s bringing everyone together, everyone. We got people from Syria, Palestine, Lebanese American − they’re all coming together. So, it’s literally amazing.”
Dearborn makes a good thing even better
It all started in 2022 when France beat Morocco in a semifinal, and Dearborn hosted a watch party in its 1,200-seat performing arts center.
“When we hosted that watch party, 5,000 people came,” Dearborn mayor Abdullah Hammoud said. “We had an overflow in our ballroom and the hallway outdoors, and it was one of the greatest events.”
So, when the World Cup came to America (and Canada and Mexico) this year, Hammoud decided to do it up even bigger in Dearborn.
“Dearborn is very much of a World Cup city,” Hammoud said. “Soccer is very big in the minds of many Dearborn families. Our youth soccer clubs are bursting at the seams in terms of enrollment and numbers, and so we wanted to do something special.”
Arab Americans make up 53% of Dearborn’s population, the highest percentage of residents with Arab ancestry among cities in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau. And soccer is part of the culture. So, that explains part of the reason why so many attended the Iraq game. It’s the essence of this community.
So, that’s the backdrop. But something seriously cool has happened during these games.
The politics faded away and it’s just sports.
“When you’re watching a football game, for those 90 minutes, everybody is just focused on the game, and the politics kind of disappear,” Hammoud said. “I think that’s what’s beautiful about it. You might come from a war-torn country, but when you see your national football team on the screen, you kind of forget about what’s happening in your ancestral homeland, and you focus on cheering on those men running up and down that field. It pulls everybody together.”
Not in a bad way.
But in the most beautiful way. Which is what it was like in Dearborn when Iraq was playing. It was invigorating and just fun to watch. To see the excitement and intensity.
“There’s the music and the feel,” Hammoud said. “When you saw folks in Brazil gear, folks in Morocco gear, there weren’t adversarial. It was celebratory, it was high anxiety, obviously, depending on the outcome. But everybody’s able to come together to celebrate with one another, and to really be proud of where you came from, regardless of the events that are unfolding,”
You can watch in bars or downtown Detroit
Dearborn is not alone.
World Cup watch parties have sprung up across metro Detroit at all kinds of sports bars.
Like at Thomas Magee’s Sporting House Whiskey Bar, an Eastern Market pub known for showing soccer games all year round.
“It’s insane – the intensity,” owner Erik Olson said. “We got a great mix of really knowledgeable hardcore fans mixed with casual sports fans that are just soaking up the vibe and adding to it. We get capacity crowds for every USA game. We have really strong crowds for Mexico, for England, for Colombia, for Argentina, Spain and France. I think we’ll do good with Scotland throughout the tournament.”
But this is really not unusual. Because Magee’s is a soccer bar.
“This is what we do,” Olson said. “Opening early for a game is just normal, so we’re not only a fantastic USA bar, we are a World Cup bar. People don’t have to call. They don’t have to ask if some game’s gonna be on. They don’t have to ask if we’re gonna open. You just come to Magee’s and you know what the vibe’s like.”
Vibe?
That brings me to the scene in Detroit.
Because DCFC is hosting Team USA watch parties at Campus Martius.
When the United States beat Paraguay, 4-1, in its opening World Cup game on June 12, it drew 3,500 to 4,000 fans to a watch party in Detroit.
“We’re super excited on how it turned out,” said Abi Varghese, the DCFC Partnership Development Director. “There were packs of people just standing next to each other. It’s almost like a mosh pit of people with no standing room. We’re excited. We’re building this atmosphere for a reason. We want to show the US that Detroit does have a very passionate soccer base.”
DCFC will host another watch party when USA plays Australia at 3 p.m. Friday.
“For us, the World Cup is huge,” Varghese said. “When the finals are over, everyone’s like, ‘Where do I go with this excitement? Where do I watch soccer next?’
“And we’re going to be having a shiny new stadium in downtown Detroit shortly. So it’s like the perfect transition for us to capture all of these soccer fans and also show the world how exciting Detroit soccer can be.”
Yes, it’s exciting now.
You want know the best part?
We haven’t even reached the knockout stage, yet.
Contact Jeff Seidel at jseidel@freepress.com or follow him @seideljeff.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: World Cup fever brings metro Detroit joy from Dearborn to downtown
Reporting by Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
