World Cup, you're welcome - Sheffield's gift to the world as FIFA World Cup 2026 kicks off
Millions will watch the World Cup - but here is why Sheffield will be full of pride
It is expected to be followed by nearly half the world’s adult population - and experts say it’s all down to Sheffield, the city where it all began.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off this evening when Mexico take on South Africa in the Azteca Stadium in front of an expected 1.5 billion audience across the world.
Thousands will be watching here in Sheffield, at bars and homes across the city - the city which created the game.
Among those keenly following the tournament will be officials from the organisation Sheffield Home of Football, who will this weekend be taking part in the 2026 International Football History Conference, at Craven Cottage - Fulham FC’s home in London.
Steve Wood, one of SHOF’s panel at the conference says anyone watching here in Sheffield should know that the World Cup has grown out of what Sheffield gave the world in the 1800s.
He has a message for fans watching the tournament.
He said: “Every time there’s a corner, every time a ball hits a crossbar, every time there is a penalty, a header, a throw-in or a corner, or even people dancing in the streets after winning a match, think of Sheffield because that all originated in Sheffield, and be proud of that, because that is what we gave the world.”
He explained that those important rules which are now at the heart of the game were created by Sheffield FC in their original rules of the game.
And he added historians of the game believe the huge rise in popularity of football as a spectator sport was down to Sheffielder Jack Hunter.
Jack, who was born in Crookes near where the Grindstone pub now stands, played mostly for Heeley, but also played for over 20 clubs in the city, sometimes playing four games a week. He learned the tactics that were evolving in the city’s burgeoning football scene.
He has been labelled the Father of the People’s Game by SHOF, having taken the Sheffield Rules and tactics over to Blackburn, where he guided Blackburn Olympic to become the first working class winners of the FA Cup, which had previously only been won by ‘posh’ teams such as Old Etonians and Oxford University.
It led to mushrooming match attendances and professional football and professionalism arrived. Experts say the world was never the same.
Sign up today for your daily dose of Sheffield news, sport, business, lifestyle, what’s on and more - Delivered straight to your inbox
Sheffield FC’s original ground where it all started was located near what is now Queens Road, in an area where the B&Q car park now stands, not far from Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane stadium.
Many fans are expected to watch games at a Fanzone in the city centre, at Devonshire Green, which is expected to be open for the knockout stage of the tournament. Details of the venue’s opening have yet to be confirmed.
However pubs across the city will be showing matches.
England’s first game is against Croatia on Wednesday June 17, at 9pm.
Sheffield will also see football-themed workshops taken to city schools and communities on a bright yellow school bus to celebrate the FIFA World Cup, from June 11 until June 16.
Participants will create art to later be projected onto Sheffield Town Hall, and have the chance to explore augmented reality features on the bus.
The project culminates in a full day of celebrations at the Peace Gardens on June 17.
The Around The World project is run by Stand & Be Counted Theatre.