COLORADO SPRINGS — Law enforcement, emergency managers, and event coordinators from the 11 U.S. host cities are in Colorado Springs for a security summit ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
Under the direction of the White House and Homeland Security, NORTHCOM, based in Colorado Springs, is holding the 11-city summit on the edge of the Air Force Academy.
The 11 cities that will be hosting the World Cup are coordinating with NORTHCOM about safety and security.
Leaders at NORTHCOM say if necessary, they'll invite the group back again to hone plans before the World Cup in June.
This World Cup is expected to shatter records for sporting event attendance, creating massive security challenges.
"About 130 million people watched the last Super Bowl. The last World Cup final, 1.6 billion people watched it," said Andrew Giuliani.
That perspective underscores the massive task of creating a safety and security plan for what officials call a history-making event.
"Just around the corner is the most significant sporting event in the history of the world. How much fun is that?" said World Cup 2026, Chief Safety and Security Officer, G.B. Jones.
Military resources and expertise are collaborating with host cities to develop comprehensive security plans.
"Best practices are not going to be sufficient to secure this World Cup. We have to go dynamic. We have to go bigger and bolder than we've ever done before," Jones said.
"That is part of the discussion that we're having here so that we all speak the same language in terms of process of how to connect from the federal level all the way down to the city level," said USNORTHCOM, Director of Strategy, Rear Admiral Gregory Newkirk.
The tournament will feature soccer across North America for more than a month, with just over 100 matches and nearly 80 across the 11 host cities in the United States.
The hub for security is Colorado Springs.
"First and foremost, we want to make sure this is a safe World Cup. If this is a safe World Cup, it's going to be a successful World Cup," Giuliani said.
The security planning is also so fans like 14-year-old Andrew Rutherford can focus on what matters most to them.
"Everything, especially the sound when it hits the back of the net. That's a great sound," Rutherford said when asked what he loves about soccer.
Soccer is non-stop at Soccer Haus in Colorado Springs, and more days than not, Andrew is in the building.
He also follows the best players and teams in the world, and he is well aware that the World Cup is coming to North America.
"Yeah, really excited," Rutherford said.
"There's games in Kansas City that we're going to try and get tickets to and go watch in Kansas City," said John Wells, who runs operations at Soccerhaus, coaches, and is a former player.
He's been to previous World Cup tournaments.
"There's nothing like seeing a live World Cup game," Wells said.
On the field and in the stands, he says the atmosphere is unique to the event.
"You're putting these 20-some players for each country, they're putting their country on their back and trying to win for their country," Wells said.
NORTHCOM, on one side of Colorado Springs, is monitoring safety so a 14-year-old and his mentor on the other side of the city can focus on watching soccer and dreaming big.
"I imagine myself playing in that USA kit on that stage in the final. That's what I imagine," Rutherford said.
Leaders at the summit say they want fans going home after the World Cup talking about wins and losses and their favorite teams and the fun they had at U.S. cities, with no discussion about safety and security.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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