From afar, the South Philadelphia Sports Complex looks like a small city built around sports. Four large arenas appear side by side in the middle of wide avenues, surrounded by large parking lots.
An American football stadium, a baseball field and a basketball and hockey gym. In just a few meters, the symbols of some of the greatest sporting passions in the United States coexist.
For those who arrive for the first time just looking for a stadium — as the report from Sheet—, it is easy to get lost among so many structures, although the long walk between one entrance and another is alleviated by the possibility of admiring the architecture of the places.
The size of the complex and the proximity between the arenas make the visitor walk for a few minutes until they realize that they are in front of one of the largest sports centers in the country.
The impression is that everything is designed for those who arrive at the events by car, but that’s not the case.
It is possible to reach the stadium by public transport, and SEPTA, operator of the city’s transport system, announced that it will maintain the usual prices, US$2.90 (R$15).
Furthermore, fans will be able to return after the game for free. The trips will start at half-time and will last up to two hours after the match.
This week, the scenario will gain new characters.
Yellow and blue shirts, Brazilian and Haitian flags and fans from different parts of the world began to occupy a space normally dominated by the colors of the franchises of the four main American leagues.
It is in this environment that Brazil takes the field this Friday (19) to face Haiti in the second round of the World Cup, at 9:30 pm (Brasília time).
The match will be played at Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Philadelphia Eagles, from the NFL (National Football League), which is part of the complex that also houses Citizens Bank Park, from the Phillies, from MLB (Major League Baseball), and the Wells Fargo Center, from the 76ers, from the NBA (National Basketball Association), and the Flyers, from the NHL (National Hockey League).
Football is also present in Philadelphia, but its home is about 25 km away, at Subaru Park Stadium, home of the Union, from MLS (Major League Soccer), making Philadelphia one of the few cities in the country with representatives in the five biggest leagues in the USA.
Philadelphia’s relationship with sports is so deep that one of its most visited monuments pays tribute to a fictional athlete.
At the base of the statue of boxer Rocky Balboa, a character played by Sylvester Stallone and immortalized as a symbol of the city, an inscription defines him as a symbol of the city: “The character who represents the courageous spirit of the great city of Philadelphia and the brotherhood of it’s people”. In Portuguese, “the character who represents the courageous spirit of the great city of Philadelphia and the brotherhood of its people.”
But sport is not the only calling card of the city, which presents itself to the world as the cradle of American independence, which turns 250 years old in 2026.
The country’s historic landmark has its lines written just a few kilometers from the sports complex, where the brick buildings, monuments and squares that helped shape the United States are located.
It is in the historic center of Philadelphia that you will find Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was approved in 1776, and the Liberty Bell, a bell transformed into a symbol of American freedom.
Between the places where the United States was shaped and the stadiums that mobilize tens of thousands of fans, Philadelphia offers two narratives that help explain the story of the main host of this World Cup.
