In 27 months from now, Atlanta will host the first of its eight FIFA World Cup 2026 matches. That’s about 820 days. And each one of those global soccer contests—spread across a full month, in Atlanta’s case—has been compared to a Super Bowl, in terms of gravitas, hoopla, and economic impact.
Which begs the question: Will downtown Atlanta be ready to welcome the world?
As with many urban centers across the U.S., downtown Atlanta has seen a tug-of-war recently between optimism and investment versus economic stumbles and downright tragedy.
Just as another hip performance venue is announced at Underground Atlanta, there’s a business permanently shuttering in the wake of continued violence at its doorstep.
Just weeks after tech entrepreneurs swooped in to pull more than 50 buildings from the clutches of foreclosure—promising hundreds of new tech jobs in South Downtown by the end of 2025—a cornerstone of necessities retail for legions of college students and other downtown residents has announced it is closing for good.
Centennial Yards' 18-story apartment tower—the first ground-up new building of many planned in the Gulch—has crested over raised nearby streets. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta
In another contrast, a new student living high-rise dripping with amenities debuted downtown last year, a few months after an empty lot next to MARTA transit failed to attract any interest from developers, instead becoming a temporary housing initiative for the city’s homeless.
And though cranes have finally jutted up from the long-dead Gulch, MARTA has conceded its busiest station, Five Points, will still be a work-in-progress construction zone as fútbol fanatics arrive in 2026
So on and so forth.
Of course, no reasonable visitor should expect any major city to be perfect, but it all could make one wonder if downtown will be in a position to put a truly respectable foot forward in 800 days. What say you, Atlanta?
