Members in the 16 World Cup host cities in North America plan events to showcase Rotary and foster international understanding
By Arnold R. Grahl
Wing-Kai To grew up watching international soccer and idolizing its stars. As a child in Hong Kong, he followed players like Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff, and Diego Maradona.
Now living in the United States, To is a member of the Rotary Club of The Bridgewaters, Massachusetts, USA, and no less enthusiastic about international soccer. He hopes he’ll be selected as one of hundreds of volunteers when the 2026 FIFA World Cup comes to Gillette Stadium near Boston.
Wing-Kai To, a member of the Rotary Club of Bridgewaters, Massachusetts, USA, holds a soccer ball after trying out to be a volunteer for the 2026 FIFA World Cup games near Boston.
“I will be excited to take on one of the two dozen roles supporting the tournament,” says To, a professor of history at Bridgewater State University. “I have already secured tickets to the match between Scotland and Morocco and am getting ready to cheer for both teams.”
The World Cup, the most-watched sporting event in the world, will be hosted by three countries for the first time. An expanded field of 48 teams will play from 11 June to 19 July in the metro areas of 16 cities in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. In Canada, those areas are Toronto and Vancouver. In Mexico, they are Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey. And in the U.S., they are Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle.
The games provide a unique opportunity for Rotary clubs to offer hospitality and promote Rotary’s work on the global stage.
Larry Lunsford, Rotary International’s president-nominee, began connecting Rotary leaders across host cities in late 2025 in an effort to promote Rotary-led events before and during the tournament. Since then, a host city leadership committee made up largely of past district governors has been meeting to ensure that Rotary has a strong, coordinated presence in every World Cup host city.
Lunsford is encouraging districts to use Rotary Friendship Exchanges to connect Rotary soccer fans from around the world with local members willing to host them.
“It’s the top of the mountain of the way Rotary districts in the World Cup cities can engage with this exciting event,” says Lunsford, a member of the Rotary Club of Kansas City-Plaza, Missouri, USA. “I am proud of what we have going on in Kansas City, and I am hopeful that districts in each of the areas will get involved.”
Rotary Friendship Exchanges support Rotary’s peacebuilding efforts through in-person and virtual visits. The exchanges offer Rotary members and their family and friends the opportunity to visit and host one another in their homes and clubs. Rotary Friendship Exchange chairs in each district decide on the details. (Download a quick guide to Friendship Exchange.)
Ben Martin, the Rotary Friendship Exchange chair for District 6040, which includes part of the Kansas City metro area, began contacting his counterparts in Argentina, Austria, Algeria, Curacao, Ecuador, the Netherlands, and Tunisia — countries whose teams will either play in the Kansas City area or have set up training facilities nearby. So far, 20 members from two districts in Argentina plan to participate in exchanges. The district has found about two dozen members willing to host them.
“It’s going to be fascinating for us. Argentina is the defending World Cup champion,” said Stephanie Meyer, a member of the host city leadership committee and a past governor of District 5710, which includes part of the Kansas City metro area. “We’re expecting a lot of excitement around the game.” To continue reading, link here https://tinyurl.com/d9b4adxc
