{"id":2801,"date":"2026-06-07T04:05:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T04:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2801"},"modified":"2026-06-07T04:05:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T04:05:20","slug":"soccer-tournament-prep-brings-international-crowds-to-tampa-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2801","title":{"rendered":"Soccer tournament prep brings international crowds to Tampa stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA, Fla<\/strong> – <\/span>A lively crowd filled Raymond James Stadium on Saturday afternoon as England secured a 1-0 victory during a friendly exhibition soccer game in Tampa.\u00a0<\/p>

Read more National Park Service ranger dies while on patrol at Mount McKinley<\/a><\/p>

What we know:<\/p>

International soccer fans flooded the stadium on Saturday afternoon to watch England take on New Zealand. The friendly game was not an official part of the upcoming tournament schedule. Instead, the match served as a critical training opportunity to help players prepare for the heavy Florida heat.\u00a0<\/p>

<\/div>
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n

Supporters fill the stands on Saturday to watch England play a friendly soccer game in the intense Florida heat.<\/span> <\/p> <\/div><\/div>

Growing American soccer<\/h2>

Big picture view:<\/p>

Local soccer enthusiasts view these high-profile matches as a golden opportunity to expand the popularity of the sport across the nation. “The excitement was so surreal. You know, like the fact that the World Cup is coming here to the United States is actually a huge, huge, huge thing,” fan Chris Dietz said. “So, we got to get everybody possible here to the stadium whenever we play.”\u00a0<\/p>

International fan roots<\/h2>

The backstory:<\/p>

The weekend match drew spectators from across the globe, including an English family that traveled from their Orlando home to see the game. “I’m the first person born in America from this side of the family,” fan Iain Plank said. “So England is a big part of like, you know, my family lineage, the way I grew up. So, it’s nice to have my connections to my roots be right here in my hometown.”\u00a0<\/p>

Vibrant stadium experience<\/h2>

Local perspective:<\/p>

Supporters praised the energy of the host city, noting that the community completely transformed to welcome the international teams. “The night scenery has been amazing,” spectator Josh Schneider said. “Going out has been amazing. It definitely has brought the city more lively.”\u00a0<\/p>

Read more Sarasota\u2019s Silver Pride celebration shines despite funding challenges during Pride Month<\/a><\/p>

Match ticket prices<\/h2>

By the numbers:<\/p>

While many attendees openly debated the overall cost of attending the match, most agreed that seeing a live victory was worth the investment. “It’s worth it, yes, but it is expensive,” Gary Guest said. “You have to take it.”\u00a0<\/p>

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n

Soccer fans arrive at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday afternoon ahead of an international exhibition match in Tampa.<\/span> <\/p> <\/div><\/div>

Other fans noticed that entry costs fluctuated significantly leading up to kickoff. “Headlines say that the tickets are extremely expensive, but they’re actually not,” Dietz said. “Like the price has dropped and so now is your time to get the tickets.”\u00a0<\/p>

Future championship outlook<\/h2>

What’s next:<\/p>

With the exhibition season wrapping up, supporters are already looking ahead to the main tournament matches next week. “Compared to the last 10 years, I think could genuinely walk away with the World Cup in our hands,” Plank said regarding England’s chances.\u00a0<\/p>

Read more Suspect arrested after man found shot in the head at Pinellas Park business: PCSO<\/a><\/p> <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A lively crowd filled Raymond James Stadium on Saturday afternoon as England secured a 1-0 victory during a friendly exhibition soccer game in Tampa.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[84,13],"tags":[86,14],"class_list":["post-2801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-tampa","tag-sports","tag-tampa"],"yoast_head":"\nSoccer tournament prep brings international crowds to Tampa stadium - Tampa moving journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2801\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Soccer tournament prep brings international crowds to Tampa stadium - Tampa moving journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A lively crowd filled Raymond James Stadium on Saturday afternoon as England secured a 1-0 victory during a friendly exhibition soccer game in Tampa.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2801\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tampa moving journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-07T04:05:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6e7f26ff030e4395dcec2ee09379e8a7.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"932\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"524\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2801#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2801\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a\"},\"headline\":\"Soccer tournament prep brings international crowds to Tampa stadium\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-07T04:05:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2801\"},\"wordCount\":503,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2801#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1dd453eb9f08cc32d0ab1e03b8cc85f4.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Sports\",\"Tampa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\",\"Tampa\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2801#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2801\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2801\",\"name\":\"Soccer tournament prep brings international crowds to Tampa stadium - Tampa moving journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2801#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2801#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1dd453eb9f08cc32d0ab1e03b8cc85f4.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-07T04:05:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2801#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2801\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2801#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1dd453eb9f08cc32d0ab1e03b8cc85f4.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1dd453eb9f08cc32d0ab1e03b8cc85f4.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2801#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Soccer tournament prep brings international crowds to Tampa stadium\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tampa moving journal\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Soccer tournament prep brings international crowds to Tampa stadium - Tampa moving journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2801","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Soccer tournament prep brings international crowds to Tampa stadium - Tampa moving journal","og_description":"A lively crowd filled Raymond James Stadium on Saturday afternoon as England secured a 1-0 victory during a friendly exhibition soccer game in Tampa.\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2801","og_site_name":"Tampa moving journal","article_published_time":"2026-06-07T04:05:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":932,"height":524,"url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6e7f26ff030e4395dcec2ee09379e8a7.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2801#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2801"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a"},"headline":"Soccer tournament prep brings international crowds to Tampa stadium","datePublished":"2026-06-07T04:05:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2801"},"wordCount":503,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2801#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1dd453eb9f08cc32d0ab1e03b8cc85f4.webp","keywords":["Sports","Tampa"],"articleSection":["Sports","Tampa"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2801#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2801","url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2801","name":"Soccer tournament prep brings international crowds to Tampa stadium - Tampa moving journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2801#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2801#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1dd453eb9f08cc32d0ab1e03b8cc85f4.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-07T04:05:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2801#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2801"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2801#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1dd453eb9f08cc32d0ab1e03b8cc85f4.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1dd453eb9f08cc32d0ab1e03b8cc85f4.webp","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2801#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Soccer tournament prep brings international crowds to Tampa stadium"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/","name":"Tampa moving journal","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com"],"url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}