Downtown Worcester was bursting with energy June 13 as soccer fans celebrated the beginning of this year’s FIFA World Cup with a street soccer festival, an art exhibition and an outdoor watch party for the day’s matches.

On the Worcester Common Oval, a screen showed games between Qatar and Switzerland, Morocco and Brazil, and Haiti and Scotland, the last of which was broadcast from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough [renamed Boston Stadium for the World Cup], only an hour’s drive away.

Much of the large crowd that gathered to watch was decked out in their favorite teams’ colors – some in green and yellow for Brazil, others in red and green for Morocco or blue and red for Haiti, a few more in blue and white for Scotland.

Two members of that crowd were Marcelly Miranda and Sam Brewer, who waited on a park bench before the Brazil versus Morocco match.

Miranda, who is from Brazil, wore the same shade of green seen on the Brazilian flag.

“Brazil is going to win for sure. I don’t think Morocco is good enough to win,” Miranda said.

How far did Miranda think her team would get in the tournament?

“Not that far, unfortunately. They’re always good, but I don’t think that we are good enough to make it to semifinals.”

Brewer said he did not grow up following soccer but has taken an interest in it in the months leading up to the World Cup.

“I’m getting a little more into it. I’m definitely paying more attention now that it’s in the United States, and my buddy who’s Brazilian watches it every day and loves soccer,” Brewer said. “Hearing him talk about it, I’ll go over, he’ll be watching the games and it definitely makes you more interested.”

On Franklin Street, closed to traffic, lovers of the world’s most popular sport played pickup games on the concrete, trying new juggling tricks and shooting into several goals that were set up in the street.

Next to them, teams from the Kumasi Soccer youth league faced off in a tournament that lasted all afternoon and featured an announcer who, like a television sportscaster, shouted “Gooooooal!” every time a team scored.

The teams were named for countries, similar to the way Little League baseball teams are named for Major League Baseball franchises – they included Senegal, the Ivory Coast, Morocco and Puerto Rico – and as the sun began to dip in the sky, around 5:30 p.m., winners in each age group posed for family photos with trophies.

At 6 p.m., the doors to the Jean McDonough Arts Center opened, with a joyful blast of African drumbeats from Crocodile River Music, to kick off the Goals Beyond The Game art exhibit, which showcases soccer-related works by seven Worcester artists of African descent.

As people entered, the Crocodile River musicians paraded through the gallery, and most of the crowd danced along while perusing the exhibit.

Ghanaian artist Ivana Lamptey stood smiling by a large piece she had painted, titled “Joy of the Future,” which showed a group of children gathered around a soccer ball and laughing, all in bright colors.

“I was inspired by, when I went to Ghana, seeing children play soccer,” she said. “They were using makeshift items to play. They didn’t even have a soccer ball. Their shirts are oversized intentionally [in the painting] because they didn’t have resources but they still had joy.”

Out on the Common, the Brazil versus Morocco match was underway and a sea of yellow Brazil jerseys filled the Oval. When Morocco’s Ismael Saibari scored in the first half, a small group of Morocco fans dressed in red leaped up, waving flags and cheering.

While many of the attendees were wearing jerseys from countries that were playing that day, some were representing teams that wouldn’t be on the big screen including Ghana, Rwanda and 2022 champions Argentina.

The June 13 watch party was the first of four that will take place on the Worcester Common during this year’s World Cup. The next June 23 will show a 4 p.m. match between Ghana and England, which will be broadcast live from Boston Stadium in Foxborough.

Later in the tournament, watch parties will take place for one of the tournament’s semifinal matches July 14 and for the World Cup Final 3 p.m. July 19.

Source: Worcester Telegram