Seattle plans to host an LGBTQ Pride Match at the FIFA World Cup next year

With the 2026 World Cup Group Stage taking place in June throughout several of the most LGBTQ-friendly cities in the United States, the world’s biggest sports tournament is going to coincide with some of the biggest Pride celebrations in the country.

To take advantage of this, host city Seattle is seizing the opportunity to unite the soccer and LGBTQ communities during one match at the end of June.

According to the World Cup Seattle 2026 website, the Emerald City plans to designate its Group Stage game during Pride Weekend as the “Seattle Pride Match.”

As the site explains, “With hundreds of thousands of visitors and millions of viewers tuning into Seattle during Pride Weekend, we are presented with a unique opportunity to make a lasting impact. This moment allows us to educate the world, inspire our LGBTQ+ community, and uplift LGBTQ+ businesses and cultural organizations.”

Seattle’s Pride Weekend traditionally takes place during the last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in June. That coincides with a Group Stage game at Lumen Field on Friday, June 26, the likely date for the Seattle Pride Match. Teams playing that match are still TBD.

Seattle will also hold a Group Stage match on June 19, which will be the USMNT’s second group stage match. The other two USMNT Group Stage matches will be in Los Angeles, with Pride House LA/West Hollywood planning Pride Houses for both.

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Over the summer, the Seattle World Cup Organizing Committee unveiled a Pride Match design contest, asking LGBTQ artists to submit insignias and portfolios to create a logo for the event.

The site promised to announce the winner in August but as of press time, Outsports has been unable to find a winning design or an update on the contest.

Hopefully, the Seattle World Cup committee is still committed to this initiative, as a Pride Match would be an historic opportunity for viewers around the world to watch the sport of soccer celebrate its LGBTQ fanbase.

It would also be a remarkable step forward for the World Cup after the Qatar 2022 tournament was predictably tarnished by attempts to crack down and suppress LGBTQ Pride.

From security confiscating every rainbow banner it could see to FIFA promising to issue yellow cards to captains wearing OneLove armbands, the 2022 World Cup was a problem for the LGBTQ community.

With plans for a Pride Match, Seattle has an opportunity to create much happier memories and show the soccer world how much more beautiful this game is when it celebrates our community.

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