As every soccer fan knows, 2026 is a FIFA World Cup year.

And as every American knows, 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Boston played an enormous role in the founding of our nation. It’s known as “the Cradle of Liberty.” And when soccer fans descend on the city for its World Cup matches — including five group stage games, one round of 32, and a quarterfinal — they’ll visit perhaps America’s most historic, and walkable, city. (Philadelphia, another World Cup venue, vies with its centuries-old rival for those titles.)

Many fans — American as well as international — may be surprised to learn that the seven World Cup matches will be played not in Boston, or even nearby. The actual site is Foxboro (formally, “Foxborough”), 36 miles southwest (and only 25 miles from Providence, Rhode Island).

A train is the most convenient way from the city to Gillette Stadium (rebranded, per FIFA rules, as “Boston Stadium” for the duration). 

There’s not much to see or do in Foxboro, a suburban town of less than 20,000. But visitors who choose Boston will have more than enough ways to keep busy. 

History buffs will be especially excited, says Frank Dell’Apa. He’s a historian himself — of the soccer kind. A sportswriter who covered the original North American Soccer League, he was the Boston Globe’s soccer writer for nearly 25 years. Now a freelance journalist, he has covered seven World Cups, and MLS since the league began.

Boston’s history is entwined with soccer. A similar game was played on Boston Common in the 1800s. An original ball survives. “It looks a lot more like a soccer ball than a football,” Dell’Apa notes. 

Waves of immigrants — Scots, Irish, Italians, Portuguese, Brazilians and more —brought the game to Boston in the late 19th century, into the 20th and now the 21st, playing wherever there was grass.

But with or without a soccer ball, Boston Common is worth visiting. At 50 acres downtown — just steps from both the Statehouse and the bar that inspired the “Cheers” television show — it is the oldest city park in the United States.

Boston Common is a great place to begin the Freedom Trail, though the self-guided walk can begin anywhere on its 2 ½-mile route. Points of interest include the Old North Church, Bunker Hill Monument, Old State House (site of the Boston Massacre), Paul Revere House, Faneuil Hall, burial grounds and other notable places.

The FIFA World Cup Trophy is displayed in front of USS Constitution at Boston National Historical Park. (Photo by Jaiden Tripi/FIFA via Getty Images)

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