Mayor Andre Dickens thanked the thousands of city and public safety employees who kept the City of Atlanta thriving as soccer fans from across the world arrived to experience the culture, food, and businesses during six weeks of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Dickens said at a July 22 press conference that the city never missed a beat hosting the World Cup in addition to Juneteenth, the Fourth of July, the Peachtree Road Race, and regular city business.
“No single person, no single organization, and no single level of government can accomplish something of this magnitude alone,” Dickens said. “Our greatest accomplishments happen when we work together.”
Drawing a parallel to the 1996 Summer Olympics, the mayor said the tournament’s exposure — including a semifinal match that drew more than 1 billion viewers worldwide — could translate into business investment, conference bookings, and tourism for the city. Dickens said officials are already applying lessons learned to prepare for the 2028 Super Bowl scheduled to be held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
A look at the numbers
Atlanta COO LaChandra Burks, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum, Assistant Fire Chief Terrance Simon, and Department of Transportation Commissioner Solomon Caviness detailed how their departments prepared for and managed the events from June 11 to July 19, including eight matches in Downtown and 16 nights of Fan Fest programming at Centennial Olympic Park and across the metro area.
Employees kept up their regular duties — from permitting to payroll to neighborhood services — while also absorbing the added workload of the World Cup.
“You woke up early. You stayed up late. You solved problems. You stepped up when no one else would, all for the benefit of the City of Atlanta,” Burks said.
Schierbaum said the same security framework used for large scale events like Atlanta Pride Parade was applied to World Cup sites, adjusted in real time as crowds gravitated toward South Downtown and Centennial Yards.
Schierbaum said the Atlanta Police Department was fully mobilized for six weeks, deploying more than 1,800 sworn officers on 12-hour shifts alongside 500 civilian staff who ran two 911 call centers. The department drew support from 33 outside law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, and regional level.
Officers took 212 guns off the streets and served six high-risk warrants during the tournament, according to Schierbaum. About 150 people were arrested by federal agents n connection to human trafficking and child exploitation charges. He said crime citywide fell 18% compared to the same six-week period in 2025. More than 300 unattended packages found Downtown were flagged for clearance, a nod to post-1996 Olympics security awareness campaigns urging residents to “see something, say something.”
The department’s backup 911 center fielded 122,004 calls in multiple languages over the six weeks, with an average answer time of 5.7 seconds, Schierbaum said. Georgia State University helped by bussing officers, housing visiting teams, and serving more than 24,000 meals to police staff. Chastain Park housed horses from Memphis and Savannah, doubling the size of Atlanta’s mounted patrol unit.
During days of extreme heat and humidity, roughly 20,952 bottles of water and 25,020 pounds of ice were used by officers, Schierbaum said.
Assistant Fire Chief Simon said emergency teams handled 833 patients at an infield hospital with only 27 patients requiring transport to area emergency rooms.
Transportation and infrastructure
Prior to the tournament, the city resurfaced more than 25 miles of downtown roadway, eliminated about 60% of downtown potholes, repaired 11 miles of sidewalk and installed 80 ADA-compliant curb ramps, according to Caviness.
The Atlanta Department of Transportation coordinated more than 4 million MARTA trips and 600,000 micro-mobility trips on scooters and e-bikes.
Dickens said that the city processed 2,000 permits and business licenses in preparation for the tournament, including liquor and vendor licenses for pop-ups.
“From our airport to our neighborhoods, from Atlanta Stadium [Mercedes-Benz Stadium] to five neighborhood watch parties across our city, Atlanta’s spirit could be seen and felt everywhere. But one, thing’s for sure: that did not happen by accident. For years, countless people across the city government, community organizations, volunteers, and partners worked together to prepare for this very moment. And Atlanta delivered,” COO Burks said.
