Portland wasn’t able to win coveted rights to host a World Cup game this summer, but the leaders of FIFA, the international soccer governing body, know what Portland – and particularly the University of Portland – can offer.
UP has become the practice site for the Jordanian World Cup team. FIFA planners called UP Athletic Director Scott Leykam in 2022 asking if a 2026 World Cup teams could use Merlo Field as their practice facility, The I-5 Corridor newsletter reported.
Jordan’s first-ever World Cup team recently arrived to use UP campus as its base between their competitions in San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles and other cities. The Jordanian team will not do any public practices, as their Merlo Field training sessions are closed for security reasons and to keep rival teams from potentially spying on them.
in North Portland. Photo by KATU.
Meanwhile, raucous cheers for World Cup games are resounding all over North Portland.
Bartenders at Mock’s Crest Tavern, the Nite Hawk and Leisure Public House report revelers, even non-sports fans, shifting their eyes from their pints to the TV monitors to watch team U.S.A. and the 47 other competing countries. “Are we busier than usual?” repeated the bartender at Old Gold on N. Killingsworth, “Absolutely!”
At Sticky Wicket, a popular, English-theme sports lounge in St. Johns, owner Michael Rasko said “sales have doubled” in the opening days of the June 10-July 19 tournament. “We’ve already gotten our biggest crowds since Royal Challengers Bengaluru took on the Guarjet Titans in the India Premier League Cricket Final,” he said That’s high praise as Rasko says Sticky Wicket is only bistro in the entire country regularly televising world class cricket games.
North/NE Portland World Cup fans can also cheer Portland Timbers defender Finn Surman, a defensive star on New Zealand men’s national team. He is the only active Timbers player to play soccer on the world stage.
The sinewy Surman helped the Kiwis earn a shocking 2-2 tie over higher-ranked Iran at a game in Los Angeles this week. Ariel Lassiter, a Timbers winger, played earlier this spring in the World Cup qualifying matches for Costa Rica.