Game Saver: Penn Medicine Protects Public During 2026 FIFA World Cup Matches in Philadelphia

This summer, Penn Medicine served as the official Medical Services Provider for the 2026 FIFA World Cup matches in Philadelphia. Here at Penn Washington, we were able to catch up with some of the Penn experts leading this effort to learn more about their work during this World Cup and its relevance for large event crisis management. 

“The primary objectives in this work are to protect the health and safety of the public and protect access to our hospitals,” said Patrick J. Brennan, MD, Chief Medical Officer, and Senior Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, highlighting the importance of setting up on-site medical response capabilities to avoid overloading hospitals and potentially keeping non-match-goers from accessing care. 

FIFA hosted 6 World Cup games in Philadelphia, out of 78 total throughout the U.S., including a Round of 16 matchup between France and Paraguay on July 4. The teams played at Philadelphia Stadium (aka Lincoln Financial Field), and by the end of Philadelphia’s run, more than 409,000 fans from 190 nations around the world attended the city’s 6 matches. Philadelphia’s FIFA Fan Festival™ was no small activation either. Philadelphia was the only U.S. host city to run a free Fan Festival for the full 39 days of the tournament, with the site hosting as many as 15,000 people at one time. The magic of Penn Medicine supporting on-site care at both of these events is that they can treat more problems immediately, reduce unnecessary hospital transport, and keep hospital resources available for emergencies.

“We’re bringing more advanced care to the point of injury or to the field,” said Jonathan Levi Bar, MD, Director of Emergency Preparedness, and Assistant Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine.