Coordinating Major Event Mobility for Soccer’s Biggest Stage

Take a behind-the-scenes look at how our teams in Atlanta, Seattle, and Dallas move millions who came to experience the soccer event of a lifetime by viewing the video below.

When the world’s largest sporting event came to North America in 2026, host cities needed to prepare for unprecedented mobility demands across venues, transit systems, streets, and public spaces. With 48 teams, 104 matches, and millions of fans as visitors across 39 days of events, the tournament tested how cities can move people safely and efficiently through complex urban environments.

Kimley-Horn helped communities meet those infrastructure challenges. Supporting transportation and special event operations in six US host cities, our team brought proven technical leadership in mobility and venue access planning, traffic management, transit coordination, and fan movement to the summer of soccer.

Coordinating Mobility Across Host Cities

From June through July, the 23rd men’s international soccer tournament spanned 16 venues across the US, Mexico, and Canada, setting a new attendance record with more than 6 million attendees. The global spectacle will also be watched by more than 6 billion people worldwide—the biggest international soccer competition in history.

Kimley-Horn coordinated special event and transportation planning for communities that prepared for a massive influx of pedestrians, vehicles, and public transit users. Working alongside transportation departments, transit agencies, public safety partners, and event organizers, our teams delivered strategies that helped communities operate efficiently during periods of peak activity. Key services included keeping:

• People moving: mobility planning, crowd flow management, temporary wayfinding systems, pedestrian access planning, and travel route communications
• Transportation networks operating: intersection management, signal timing optimization, parking and curb management, and traffic management planning
• Agencies aligned: transit coordination, event operations playbooks, road closure and detour planning, and staffing and resource deployment strategies

In addition, Kimley-Horn developed fan march information sheets that communicated pedestrian routes, transit access, road closures, and event logistics to help move thousands of attendees safely and efficiently.

Extending Mobility Planning Beyond the Stadium

With more than 750,000 people as visitors in each city, transportation demands extended well beyond venue boundaries. To deliver an enjoyable experience for fans, teams, residents, and local businesses, Kimley-Horn worked alongside local communities to accommodate activity at transit hubs, entertainment districts, hotels, airports, and fan gathering areas.

For fans without match tickets, host cities created gathering places to share in the tournament atmosphere. Kimley-Horn supported fan festival operations that helped communities manage large gatherings outside primary match locations where thousands of fans watched games, enjoyed activities and vendors, and extended the energy beyond the stadium.

Building a Framework for Future Global Events

The transportation strategies that were developed for this international soccer tournament provided long-term value for host communities. The planning, coordination, and operational approaches used to support tournament-scale travel demand served as a framework for future sporting events, concerts, festivals, and other large-scale gatherings.

As cities continue to attract major events, integrated mobility, operations, and event planning will be essential for moving large numbers of people safely and efficiently while maintaining transportation operations, supporting economic activity, and preserving the energy and excitement of a global sporting event.