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A Look at the World Cup in Downtown Seattle, by the Numbers

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Watch party

For six match days this summer, downtown Seattle became the epicenter of the biggest sporting event on the planet, and by nearly every measure, the city delivered.

More than 3 million people visited downtown across the six FIFA World Cup match days Seattle hosted, a 17% increase in foot traffic over the same days in 2025, according to Placer.ai data (which doesn’t even capture international visitors, so the true total is higher).

DSA estimates roughly 548,000 people were downtown for the U.S. vs. Belgium match on July 6 and 580,000 for the U.S. vs. Australia match on June 19. Occidental Square saw 28,000 people on June 19, while Westlake Park boasted 9,000. We have more park-specific tallies, down to the busiest hour, below.

Transit shattered records

Sound Transit’s Link light rail posted its highest monthly and single-day ridership totals ever: 5.4 million boardings in June, and a new single-day record of roughly 309,000 boardings on July 6. Match-day ridership climbed steadily throughout the tournament:

  • Egypt vs. Belgium: 221,000 boardings
  • Egypt vs. Iran: 234,000 boardings
  • Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Qatar: 237,000 boardings
  • Belgium vs. Senegal: 246,000 boardings
  • Australia vs. United States: 297,000 boardings
  • United States vs. Belgium: 309,000 boardings

King County Metro saw similar surges. Across the six match days, the region logged an estimated 3.4 million combined boardings on Metro and Sound Transit, with the final match alone drawing 620,000 boardings.

Metro estimates 1.9 million boardings across its buses, boats, shuttles and streetcars, while Sound Transit logged 1.5 million boardings on its Link lines. Metro’s free match-day shuttles, Waterfront Shuttle route and limited-edition commemorative ORCA cards were fan favorites all summer long.

Downtown was the party

DSA’s Summer of Sports watch parties at Westlake Park, presented by Nordstrom, turned every match into a block party with a huge screen and Bonito en el Parque serving up delicious drinks and snacks. Pitchside at the Square brought the same energy to Occidental Square on Seattle match days, with an all-ages beer garden, a soccer pitch full of eager players of all ages and skill levels — with games run by Let’s Kick It — and more fun activations in the heart of bustling Pioneer Square.

DSA’s data and research team crunched the numbers for foot traffic, via Placer.ai, at Occidental Square and Westlake Park between 10 a.m.-11 p.m. for the following dates, all of which featured watch parties: June 15, 18, 19, 24, 26, 30 and July 1, 5, 6, 9-11, 19. During that period, Occidental Square (plus the mall) saw 436,239 people and Westlake Park saw 129,032, totaling a combined 565,271 visits.

The single busiest hour across all days was from 5-6 p.m. in Occidental Square on July 6, when nearly 14,000 fans filled the Pioneer Square park. In Westlake Park, the busiest watch party was the World Cup final on July 19, which hosted nearly 5,000 people at the peak period between 1-2 p.m.

Fans also packed the steps at Overlook Walk, filled the waterfront and barge, and turned Pacific Place and Seattle Center into de facto fan zones. Mexican supporters in particular filled the city center on match days with bold green.

More media coverage:

DSA President & CEO Jon Scholes called the World Cup a tremendous success, crediting the transit system and a packed waterfront, and expressing that the city shouldn’t go back to business as usual now that it’s over.

“It delivered beyond even what we expected,” Jon said. “This has been huge.

“Seattle finally got its due from national and international media for something we’ve known for some time: we’re a kick-ass sports town!”

The city’s leadership in the sports world is already eyeing the Women’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2031. The U.S. is reportedly joining Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica in a bid, with Lumen Field listed once again as a potential site, according to The Seattle Times.

“I don’t know if it gets bigger. Seattle was at capacity,” DSA Vice President of Public Realm & Ambassador Operations Jennifer Casillas said. “But we can certainly try.”