Makenna Cramer
covers the daily drumbeat of Southern California — events, processes and nuances making it a unique place to call home.
Published February 21, 2026 5:00 AM
The second section of the exhibition focuses on Ponyo leaving her home, following her curiosity to dry land where she meets Sōsuke.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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Topline:
An exhibition that takes visitors through the magical water worlds of the 2008 film Ponyo and the hand-drawn artistry of Studio Ghibli is now open at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
Why it matters: The films from the Japanese animation studio and director Hayao Miyazaki have captivated imaginations around the world for decades — this reporter with my four tattoos of favorite Studio Ghibli characters included.
Why now: This is now the second time the Miracle Mile museum has dedicated an exhibition to Miyazaki’s works, with the focus on Ponyo arriving more than four years after the retrospective of all his animated feature films.
The backstory: “These drawings have never been shown outside of Japan,” Shraddha Aryal, the museum’s executive vice president of exhibitions, told LAist. “We have an amazing conservation team who actually cell by cell took care of these, conserved these and that was what led us to say let’s do another exhibition really highlighting their artwork.”
Read on ... for more about the Ponyo exhibition.
An exhibition that takes visitors through the magical water worlds of the 2008 film Ponyo and the hand-drawn artistry of Studio Ghibli is now open at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
The films from the Japanese animation studio and director Hayao Miyazaki have captivated imaginations around the world for decades — this reporter with my four tattoos of favorite Studio Ghibli characters included.
This is now the second time the Miracle Mile museum has dedicated an exhibition to Miyazaki’s works, with the focus on Ponyo arriving more than four years after the retrospective of all his animated feature films.
“These drawings have never been shown outside of Japan,” Shraddha Aryal, the museum’s executive vice president of exhibitions, told LAist. “We have an amazing conservation team who actually cell by cell took care of these, conserved these and that was what led us to say let’s do another exhibition really highlighting their artwork.”
The exhibition includes more than 100 items from Studio Ghibli, including animation cells from Ponyo.
The studio and Miyazaki would achieve the same feat again two decades later with The Boy and the Heron in 2024.
Studio Ghibli’s films are often fantastical with a lens of childlike wonder, but they also touch on difficult topics like the horrors of war, fascism, greed and environmental destruction. Characters are complex, with women and girls regularly in strong roles, such as the spear-wielding San or the brave but stubborn Kiki.
For me, there’s something about the carefully crafted storylines and colorful style that still make me feel like I’m exploring the forest with Princess Mononoke or stuck in a secret world of sorcery with Spirited Away, even as an adult.
Miyazaki's magical world
Ponyo is one of Miyazaki’s most kid friendly films — with positive themes of courage and curiosity as the audience tags along with the adventures of the young main characters. Plus, there’s no unnerving scenes of parents being turned into pigs like in Spirited Away (if you know you know).
The 2008 film tells the story of its namesake, the magical goldfish-like creature, Ponyo, and her budding friendship with a 5-year-old human boy named Sōsuke. The film follows Ponyo’s desire to leave her underwater world and become a human to be with Sōsuke, disrupting the balance of nature and having to contend with challenges like a tsunami along the way.
The exhibit creates a 3D version of the filmic world where visitors can climb inside an interactive version of Sōsuke’s green bucket or walk on wave displays like Ponyo in the tsunami.
“Ponyo exhibition is all about this character’s perseverance, and the joyful nature and triumph through ups and downs, [being] willing to explore a new world,” Aryal said. “And it's such a beautiful love story about friendship.”
Reimagining Ponyo
The exhibition includes rare Studio Ghibli donations on display in North America for the first time ever, such as original Miyazaki drawings and Ponyo animation cells, according to the Academy Museum. Guests can explore more than 100 items hand-picked by the studio, including an original animation desk and a make-your-own stop-motion station.
The experience is designed for all ages, reporter superfans with several tattoos of Studio Ghibli characters included.
But Jessica Niebel, the museum’s senior exhibitions curator, told LAist she hopes the Ponyo exhibition helps children feel inspired by the "beautiful messages” of the movie, especially after last year’s L.A. fires and the COVID pandemic.
“Sometimes you live through times where you have a tsunami, where you lose your magic or your mojo, you know, you're not quite sure of your identity,” she said. “[Miyazaki] gives us hope and courage that we can be free and run on the waves like Ponyo.”
“And instead of seeing things as a threat, maybe we use them to carry us,” she continued.
Dipping into the 3-D world
The exhibition is split into four sections focused on different aspects of the film.
The first dives inside Ponyo’s magical underwater home, introducing some main characters with a scene played on a screen spanning nearly the entire room.
The Ponyo exhibition takes visitors inside the 2008 film's magical water worlds.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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The first section includes Ponyo's goddess mother.
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Makenna Sievertson
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A portrait of Ponyo’s goddess mother, Granmamare, is set up behind a few bean bag chairs in the space, giving guests the sense she’s watching the sea creatures over your shoulder.
The second section centers on Ponyo leaving her home, following her curiosity to dry land where she meets Sōsuke.
The room intentionally reflects the green and blue tones of the film, with curved designs and an interactive bucket that mirrors Miyazaki’s spirit, according to Aryal.
The second section includes the original Japanese release posters from Studio Ghibli’s other famed films, including Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and The Wind Rises.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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The walls are lined with the original Japanese release posters from Studio Ghibli’s other famed films, including Howl’s Moving Castle, Porco Rosso and The Wind Rises.
The third section takes you inside “the animators’ imaginative world,” Niebel said. The centerpiece is an original animation desk donated by Studio Ghibli and surrounded by Miyazaki’s detailed drawings for Ponyo.
The exhibition includes rare materials, such as a Studio Ghibli animation desk with drawing supplies.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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Stations are set up where guests can make their own stop motion animation using sea creature cut-outs.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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Two stations are set-up on the side where guests can create their own stop motion animation scene using some of the sea creature cut-out materials sent by the studio, according to Arturo Arias, an Academy Museum educator and gallery attendant.
“It's really nice to have the sort of underwater theme happening and so people submerge — no pun intended — into it and just kind of play along,” Arias told LAist.
The final section focuses on the scene where Ponyo runs on waves instead of being swallowed by the water.
“That's a moment that's really close to my heart and I think it's sensational and only [something] Hayao Miyazaki could do,” Neibel said. “[Ponyo]'s just so joyful and so free.”
Painted waves cascade on the exhibition walls as a bright Ponyo pokes out, with behind-the-scenes clips showcased on the side.
The film follows Ponyo’s desire to leave her underwater world and become a human disrupting the balance of nature with a tsunami along the way.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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Behind the scenes clips from the making on Ponyo were showcased on the side in the last section of the exhibition.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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The movie may be nearly 20-years-old, but Aryal said the hopeful messages of Ponyo are still “really relevant” in the current world and political climate.
“It kind of becomes a refuge, if I may say that, this joyful refuge,” she said. “There is an option for you, even in this sort of disruptive climate that we're living in right now, that you can come and go through this joyful immersive experience.”
Details
The Academy Museum’s “Studio Ghibli’s PONYO” exhibition is open until Jan. 10, 2027. General admission to the museum is free for children and $25 for adults.
Spain has won the FIFA World Cup with a 1-0 extra-time win over Argentina, bringing to a close North America's first time hosting the men's tournament in over three decades.
Why it matters: It is the Spanish men's team's second World Cup title, after winning their first in 2010. And for this squad, the win marked the 38th consecutive match without a loss, a run that includes their trophy in the 2024 European Championship.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Spain has won the FIFA World Cup with a 1-0 extra-time win over Argentina, bringing to a close North America's first time hosting the men's tournament in over three decades.
It is the Spanish men's team's second World Cup title, after winning their first in 2010. And for this squad, the win marked the 38th consecutive match without a loss, a run that includes their trophy in the 2024 European Championship.
They are the most dominant defensive team to win a World Cup; no champion before them had ever conceded only one goal en route to a title. And this Spain team did so with an extra game, as the new, expanded format of the tournament required its champion to play eight matches, a record.
Spain's run to the title came through a wall of top-10 opponents: first a 1-0 win over No. 5 Portugal, then a 2-1 quarterfinal win over No. 9 Belgium, then a 2-0 win in the semifinal over No. 3 France, whose attack had looked unstoppable until then. Argentina had been the world's No. 1 team; with the win, Spain has moved into the top spot.
But on Sunday, their magic ran out. Spain dominated possession all game, and its defense shut out Argentina almost completely — Argentina recorded zero shots and only two touches in Spain's box through halftime of extra time. Yet for the 90 minutes of regulation, Argentina's defense held firm, with Spain's crosses and attempts broken up by an Argentine shin or cleat or head, and goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez seemingly always in position to stop any shots that got through. (Martínez finished the game with 11 saves, the most ever recorded in a men's World Cup final.)
Then, in stoppage time came the pivotal moment, when a tackle by Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernández on Spain's young star Pau Cubarsí flipped the young defender into the air and hard onto the ground. That earned Fernández his second yellow card of the game, after he received his first for dissent when he publicly disagreed with the referee.
The two yellows combined for a red card, sending Fernández off the field and forcing Argentina to play the 30 minutes of extra time with only 10 men.
After recording nearly a dozen shots on target, Spain finally broke through when forward Nico Williams took a cross into the box off his head, sending it back into the empty space in front of his teammate Ferran Torres, who knocked it in for the game's only goal.
The final day of a summer of World Cup fever in North America, the last of 104 matches in total, was a hot and sunny July day in East Rutherford, New Jersey, just outside New York City. On Sunday morning, fans — some in Messi jerseys and others draped in Spain flags — stood in line for bagels, sang on the subway and trains to the stadium, and packed into bars and watch parties, including a crowd of about 50,000 in Central Park.
At MetLife Stadium, where the get-in price for the game had reached five figures in the days leading up to the final, a crowd of 80,663 piled into the stands to watch the final. And they were treated to a World Cup first: a halftime show that lasted around 12 minutes, featuring Shakira, Burna Boy, BTS, Justin Bieber and Madonna.
The halftime show was a nod to American audiences and halftime spectacles like the Super Bowl, but it was controversial to many soccer fans: traditionally, halftime is 15 minutes. This one — between setup and music performances — lasted around 25 minutes. Sports fans have complained that it slows down the natural rhythm of the game; the more severe traditionalists say it's part of the trend to Americanize the game (along with hydration breaks, which effectively create four quarters, similar to an NFL or NBA game).
In 1994, the last men's World Cup the U.S. hosted sparked soccer fever. Can Major League Soccer harness this World Cup for a new generation of fans?
The backstory: Hosting the 1994 World Cup was transformative for the sport of soccer in the United States. World Cup fever led millions of children to sign up for youth leagues. Many Americans saw games aired on TV for the first time. And it led directly to the creation of MLS.
Why now: Since then, the league has done decades of work to grow its fanbase and stature in the world of soccer. Now, MLS hopes that 2026 can be just as transformative as 1994. The question is: how?
CHICAGO — For the past five weeks, a bar in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood has become one of the country's biggest World Cup watch parties, with lines stretching around the block for the biggest games.
This is all the doing of Chicago's Major League Soccer club, the Fire. By the time the final whistle is blown on the World Cup between Argentina and Spain on Sunday, an estimated 60,000 people or more will have come through at some point in the summer for a taste of World Cup fever.
This watch party and others like it around the country are one piece of Major League Soccer's efforts to capitalize on this World Cup summer here in the U.S.
Hosting the 1994 World Cup was transformative for the sport of soccer in the United States. World Cup fever led millions of children to sign up for youth leagues. Many Americans saw games aired on TV for the first time. And it led directly to the creation of Major League Soccer, as the establishment of a top-division men's professional outdoor league was a condition of awarding the U.S. the tournament.
Since then, the league has done decades of work to grow its fanbase and stature in the world of soccer. MLS kicked off in 1996 with 10 teams; last season it reached 30 teams, the same number as Major League Baseball and the NBA. In the early years, only a few dozen games were on TV each season; today, every game is televised on Apple TV.
FOX Sports host Rob Stone (L) and MLS Commissioner Don Garber speak at the MLS "The Next Chapter" Press Conference on July 16, 2026 in New York City. With the World Cup ending, the MLS motto is: "Thanks world. We'll take it from here"
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Caleb Bowlin
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The Costco free sample experience
The Chicago Fire had a puzzle to solve. The FIFA World Cup was coming back to the United States — and with it would come a once-in-a-generation opportunity to use the world's largest sporting event as a potent accelerant to grow its fanbase, like harnessing a cart to a rocket ship.
But Chicago would not host any games, having sat out the bidding process at the behest of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who found FIFA's demands for expensive renovations to the city's premier stadium, Soldier Field, too much to ask of city taxpayers.
"At the end of the day, this is the biggest sporting event in the world that takes place once every four years. And it's not happening in Chicago," said Dave Baldwin, the Fire's president of business operations.
"And we had a decision to make," he said. "One was to just bury our head in the sand and just watch on TV like everyone else, or the other one was to really rally behind it, put some dollars behind it."
In the end, the Chicago Fire put just under $3 million to build up the space at the bar, called Recess. It is massive, with ample space indoors and out. In the center of the patio stands what looks like a jumbotron plucked from an arena nearby and set down on a platform, with all four sides showing that day's game. Around the space are Chicago Fire decorations, sign-up sheets, contests and team merch for sale.
"I compare converting non-soccer fans to soccer fans to my experience when I go shopping at Costco, which is I never knew that I needed 800 teriyaki meatballs, but I was walking through the line, I had a chance to sample, and I said, 'Oh my gosh, this is amazing,' and I go buy one of those giant boxes," Baldwin said. "I have met very few people that come out to a match and don't want to come back."
As the MLS season kicks back into gear, 22 clubs are running a promotion called "First Match on Us" or "Next Match on Us," with free tickets for first-time attendees.
Casual sports fans view soccer differently today than they did in the 1990s, said Brian Bilello, the president of the New England Revolution, one of the teams participating in the promotion.
Bilello played a key role in bringing World Cup matches to Gillette Stadium, the home of both the Revolution and the New England Patriots. The stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, also hosted France and Brazil in a pre-World Cup tune-up friendly in March. The Revolution saw the World Cup as an opportunity to attract fans who aren't diehard soccer followers, but rather the Boston sports fan who simply had yet to try a Revs game.
"One of the most important fans that we need to grow collectively in our league is that core sports fan that also likes soccer. In 1994, I don't think those fans were open to that. They were just like, 'Ah, soccer sucks. I don't like soccer,'" said Bilello. "That doesn't really exist as much anymore."
Lionel Messi of Inter Miami CF in action during the MLS match against the New England Revolution on April 25, 2026 in Miami, Fla.
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Carmen Mandato
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The Messi effect
This week, Major League Soccer rolled out an ambitious, eight-figure marketing campaign called "Thanks World, We'll Take It From Here." It includes a star-studded commercial that aired during both semifinal games and will run again during Sunday's final, which is expected to be watched by tens of millions of American viewers.
The centerpiece of the ad is Lionel Messi, the 39-year-old global superstar and captain of the Argentina national team. In 2023, Messi left a wildly successful career in Europe to join the MLS club Inter Miami, a blockbuster move that has already paid dividends for the league as a whole, with attendance and viewership up since his arrival.
"There were a lot of people that thought he was coming here to retire, and it's been the opposite," said Camilo Durana, the league's chief business officer. "Rarely do you see him getting subbed off. He wants to play the 90 minutes. He's intense. He wants to win."
Messi's performance in the World Cup has been another advertisement for MLS, Durana said. Argentina will play in Sunday's final against Spain; a win would be its second consecutive title with Messi at the helm, and he's in the running to win the Golden Boot race for most goals scored in the tournament. Messi has scored eight times and is in second place behind France's Kylian Mbappé, who has 10 goals.
"What Messi's arrival did — and what this World Cup we believe will do — is it'll encourage more players to come," Durana said.
Players are the other big audience MLS is targeting with this World Cup. Even as its quality of play has improved dramatically over the years, MLS is still dogged by a reputation for being a tier or two below Europe's domestic leagues.
MLS was directly involved in the U.S. bid for this World Cup to ensure that its teams' facilities would be front and center in the hosting plan.
Each host stadium was paired with nearby soccer facilities for visiting teams to train in the days immediately preceding each game; MLS worked to ensure those venues were, as often as possible, MLS team stadiums or training centers. (Other venue training sites included Division I college soccer facilities, municipal sporting complexes and one NWSL stadium, the Kansas City Current.)
Additionally, each World Cup team chose a base camp in North America to stay and train between games. Many chose MLS facilities. That included high-profile teams like Argentina, which stayed in Kansas City to train at a Sporting Kansas City center, and Brazil, which trained at Red Bull New York's state-of-the-art Columbia Park Training Facility in New Jersey.
Argentina's team trains ahead of its World Cup round of 32 match against Cape Verde at Sporting KC Training Center in Kansas City on June 29, 2026. MLS was directly involved in the U.S. bid for this World Cup to ensure that its teams' facilities would be front and center in the hosting plan.
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Juan Mabromata
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The goal was to show top-flight players from around the world what life could be like in MLS.
"Players talk," said Durana. "Often, before a player is transferred, they ask around and ask people what they think. So it's really important for us that players have great experiences as they experience the World Cup."
Many American soccer fans still prefer watching higher-tier European leagues like the English Premier League or Germany's Bundesliga. But improving the quality of players in MLS could lead to higher-quality competition — which then would draw more fans, MLS hopes.
"Major League Soccer players scored 10 goals in the group stage, and so I think that validates everything that we're doing, and it shows the quality that we have on the MLS pitch," Durana said.
Copyright 2026 NPR
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The city of Long Beach will pull $27 million from its reserve accounts.
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Christina House
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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Topline:
The city of Long Beach plans to dip into its emergency reserves to balance its books this year as lagging tax revenue and rising expenses worsen its financial position ahead of the budget’s close on Sept. 30.
Details: The city says it will pull $27 million from a total of four reserve accounts, exhausting its operating reserves and taking out $16.5 million from its $50.1 million emergency reserve — money set aside specifically for natural disasters and unforeseen crises.
Why now: City revenues are projected to come in about $21 million below expectations this year, while expenses are set to run $20.8 million over.
The city of Long Beach plans to dip into its emergency reserves to balance its books this year as lagging tax revenue and rising expenses worsen its financial position ahead of the budget’s close on Sept. 30.
The city says it will pull $27 million from a total of four reserve accounts, exhausting its operating reserves and taking out $16.5 million from its $50.1 million emergency reserve — money set aside specifically for natural disasters and unforeseen crises.
The city last tapped that reserve during fiscal years 2020 and 2021, as officials awaited COVID-19 federal relief money while stay-at-home orders shuttered businesses and forced the city into furloughs.
While not in the midst of a natural disaster, city administrators say Long Beach’s financial picture demands the use of these funds. “I don’t think it’s a secret that we have been hit pretty hard by the economic conditions that are out there,” City Manager Tom Modica said in an interview Wednesday.
City revenues are projected to come in about $21 million below expectations this year, while expenses are set to run $20.8 million over. The city’s utility tax alone is down nearly $14.7 million as residents use less electricity and gas. Airport revenue has stayed flat even as passenger traffic at Long Beach Airport fell 11%, its second straight yearly decline. And Measure LB, a tax on power plants that voters approved in 2024, has fallen well short of projections, prompting the city auditor to request documents and open a review, Modica said.
Interest earnings have also slipped as low rates and heavy infrastructure spending leave less cash to invest, said city Financial Management Director Kevin Riper.
The city’s Health Department, meanwhile, needs an $11 million bailout from the city’s general fund after losing about $18 million in federal grant funding — its second consecutive deficit as stagnant state money fails to keep pace with rising costs in its $254 million budget.
Adding to the strain: Labor agreements with city unions have layered on $38.3 million in new structural costs over three years, insurance costs are booming, and a hiring push that cut the police vacancy rate from 26% to 13% and lowered firefighter vacancies to 3.2% means the city is now paying salaries it had budgeted to save on through unfilled positions — a $10.6 million underestimate in the citywide activities budget.
City departments began cutting costs last fall in anticipation of the gap when Modica asked them to find 3% savings through hiring delays and paused capital projects. Most hit between 2% and 7%, though Economic Development and the Health Department both ran about 11% over budget.
Thursday, Aug. 6, 6–7:30 p.m. — Charles Lindbergh Middle School Auditorium, 1022 E. Market St.
Saturday, Aug. 8, 10–11:30 a.m. — Silverado Park Community Center, 1545 W. 31st St.
Monday, Aug. 10, 6–7:30 p.m. — Renaissance High School for the Arts Auditorium, 235 E. 8th St.
Thursday, Aug. 13, 6–7:30 p.m. — Long Beach City College, Liberal Arts Campus, Room T1200, 4902 E. Carson St.
The Police Department cut the most of any department — nearly $11 million — by trimming overtime, deferring its next recruit academy to the next fiscal year, freezing professional-staff hiring and scaling back non-critical purchases.
The city also found $16 million in savings by leasing or financing new vehicles instead of buying them outright, though Riper cautioned the move is effectively irreversible without the city eventually having to “double collect” to rebuild cash for future fleet purchases.
Despite those steps, they weren’t enough to close the gap without dipping into reserves for the second year running.
The city now heads into its next budget cycle with its reserves at their lowest level in years and little cushion to absorb another bad year. Modica is set to unveil a proposed fiscal year 2027 budget on July 30 that he says will require “very difficult changes” for both residents and city staff, though he has offered few specifics beyond warning that service reductions are coming.
“My goal with the Proposed Budget, which will include very difficult changes for both the community and our organization, will be to outline a path to fiscal sustainability and create a plan to replenish our reserves,” Modica wrote in an email to city staff this week.
The city has pledged to prioritize rebuilding the emergency reserve as part of that process — but with revenues still soft and costs still climbing, officials have offered no guarantee the city won’t be back in the same position next year.
Municipalities across the region, including Santa Ana, Fullerton, Anaheim, Orange and Riverside County, have faced similar pressures to draw on reserves, blaming culprits like soft sales and hotel tax revenues, rising pension and labor costs, and federal and state aid that has either flattened or rescinded.
The city of Los Angeles pulled $358 million from its general fund reserves last year, and San Diego has repeatedly drawn down its savings, a trend officials there expect to continue.
After Modica presents his budget and the mayor recommends his changes, the Long Beach City Council must discuss, adjust and approve it by the end of September.
Libby Rainey
has been following World Cup celebrations across the city.
Published July 19, 2026 5:00 AM
Hundreds gathered at a city watch party in Highland Park to watch Mexico defeat Ecuador.
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Libby Rainey
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LAist
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Topline:
After 39 days of soccer, eight matches at SoFi Stadium and many more events big and small across the region, the World Cup is over. Reviews of the tournament in L.A. have broadly been positive, but FIFA's ticket prices, corporate sponsors and official fan zones were criticized.
The highlights: People flocked to bars and public viewing parties. More than 35,000 attended the free city "Kick it in the Park" events. Angelenos wore green with pride to root for Mexico. New fans were, at least temporarily, won over by the beautiful game.
The lowlights: FIFA faced protests over sponsorships from Aramco and Home Depot. Some fan zones also were let-downs. The Lineage warehouse in Boyle Heights broke out in flames during the World Cup, spewing thick smoke across swaths of the city.
Looking ahead: The World Cup has been treated like a warm-up lap for Los Angeles ahead of the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics. As officials and locals review what went well and what needs improvement, it'll be with 2028 in mind.
Read on... for more on how the World Cup was received in L.A.
To understand how the World Cup went in Los Angeles this summer, look no further than the watch parties.
The city of L.A.'s events — branded "Kick it in the Park" — were neighborhood picnics. People could turn up, put up a camping chair, and watch the game in a local park.
In total, the city reports that at least 35,000 people attended them over the past month. Crowds packed Sycamore Grove Park to see Mexico take down Ecuador on a massive screen. At Echo Park Lake, people watched Lionel Messi score a hat trick in Argentina's opening match.
FIFA's official "fan zones" told another story. They were ticketed, fenced off and sometimes expensive. The one on Venice Beach had some locals in an uproar after organizers promised a free block party and under-delivered.
At another fan zone at the Original Farmer's Market, tickets were cheap but once inside, attendees were left to watch the matches from a hot parking lot. If you wanted a beer, the designated drinking area didn't have a clear view of the screens.
After 39 days of soccer, eight matches at SoFi Stadium and many more events big and small across the region, reviews of the tournament have broadly been positive.
But FIFA, with its high ticket prices to get inside the stadium and branded events, had more mixed reviews, and faced protests, too. Some wondered what their community was getting out of all the hubbub.
A group gathered in Downtown Los Angeles last week to protest FIFA and 2026 World Cup corporate sponsors.
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This balance — enjoying the soccer, but being weary of what comes with it — was a throughline throughout the tournament. So was the sentiment that the World Cup was merely a warm-up lap for the coming 2028 summer Olympics.
" [It's] a tremendous opportunity for us to learn and practice for the '28 Games," said Paul Krekorian, the former L.A. City Council president who leads the city's major events office.
One example of this was public transit. Metro launched a special bus system specifically to take people to and from SoFi Stadium, and it delivered tens of thousands of people there each match. An even larger bus fleet will be needed for the Olympics, which event organizers compare to hosting seven Super Bowls a day for a month.
"The reason we were excited to take on an event like the World Cup before the Super Bowl and the 2028 Games in the first place is because this is where you get the true teaching moments," Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins wrote in a blog post about the World Cup success.
Metro unveiled its enhanced services during the 2026 World Cup on March 4.
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Other moments during the tournament hinted at the ways mega-events can go south.
The Lineage warehouse in Boyle Heights broke out in flames during the World Cup, spewing thick smoke across swaths of the city and surrounding areas. The bad air didn't force FIFA to change plans at SoFi Stadium, but had things gone differently, it could have.
Crowds packed a block party near Mariachi Plaza to watch Mexico defeat South Korea one day after the fire sparked.
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And a community event in South L.A. was disrupted when someone flew a drone to take photos and the FBI, Homeland Security and LAPD descended to enforce a strict World Cup anti-drone policy. The nonprofit involved called it an unintended consequence of having high-security sporting events in Los Angeles.
All those issues — crowds, fires and security — will undoubtedly come up again in the lead-up to 2028. They also mean some people will be happy to bid the 2026 World Cup farewell.
Still, many will miss the tournament in Los Angeles, which brought thousands of us out to public spaces to be together. Many of L.A.'s communities got to celebrate their heritage. And everyone could participate. You could strike up conversation simply by wearing your team's jersey while out and about.
That collective, temporary madness is over now. But it was fun while it lasted.
