By the Coral Gables Gazette editorial board
UPDATED: The amended proposal now before the Coral Gables City Commission would allow Fritz & Franz Bierhaus to host official World Cup watch parties only from July 3 through July 19 — covering the tournament’s knockout rounds and final. The restaurant would be permitted to maintain setup, sales and crowd control infrastructure at the plaza beginning June 19, but no official watch party with screens and public gathering would be authorized until July 3. The group stage, which begins June 11, remains entirely excluded.
That compromise may appear reasonable on paper. It reduces the event’s duration. It limits the number of days city-owned property is occupied. It narrows the operational burden on police, sanitation crews, and nearby residents.
It also risks eliminating the most meaningful part of the World Cup itself.
The group stage is not a warmup before the “real” tournament begins. It is where the World Cup becomes global rather than merely commercial. The 2026 tournament’s opening phase alone will feature 48 nations playing dozens of matches across 16 days — a rolling sequence of upsets, collapses, improbable draws, and emotional swings that give the World Cup its singular character.
It is where smaller nations still believe.
It is where people gather before work on weekday mornings wearing jerseys from countries most Americans rarely see on television. It is where families fill restaurants and plazas to watch matches whose outcomes matter deeply to entire communities even if those teams never reach the final rounds. It is where the unpredictability lives — the moments when unknown teams stun traditional powers and entire neighborhoods erupt at once.
Many countries represented throughout South Florida will not survive beyond those opening weeks of the tournament. Under the revised proposal, thousands of fans could lose the opportunity to publicly experience the only matches their national teams may play.
That matters in a city like Coral Gables.
For 24 years, Fritz & Franz has hosted World Cup gatherings that turned a downtown plaza into one of South Florida’s most recognizable international meeting places. During those tournaments, strangers embrace. Flags appear from every continent. Languages overlap. The event temporarily dissolves many of the invisible barriers that divide urban life.
Cities spend decades attempting to manufacture that kind of authentic civic energy.
Coral Gables already has it.
The commission’s concerns about duration, noise, cleanup, and crowd management are legitimate. A month-long presence in the center of downtown requires structure, oversight, and operational accountability. Nearby residents deserve enforcement of reasonable standards involving sound, sanitation, and public safety.
But those concerns should lead to management, not the quiet reduction of the World Cup into only its safest and most commercially obvious portion.
The knockout rounds are dramatic, but they are also narrower. By then, much of the world has already gone home. The tournament becomes less communal and more selective. The emotional democracy of the group stage — when every country still possesses possibility — disappears.
That distinction is not trivial.
What Coral Gables is now considering is not simply a scheduling compromise. It is a statement about what kind of public life the city feels comfortable permitting in its downtown spaces. The revised proposal would allow the celebration only after the field has contracted, the crowds have become more manageable, and the uncertainty has diminished.
That may make operational sense. It also risks missing the point entirely.
The World Cup arrives only once every four years. South Florida’s role in the 2026 tournament makes this edition uniquely significant for Coral Gables. FIFA itself will temporarily operate from the city. Millions of visitors and viewers around the world will associate South Florida with the tournament’s atmosphere and energy.
A city temporarily hosting the governing body of the world’s most popular sport should recognize that the World Cup’s identity is not confined to its final rounds.
It lives in the opening weeks — in the noise, the flags, the unpredictability, and the communities that gather before anyone knows who will survive.
Coral Gables should regulate that experience responsibly.
It should not shrink it unnecessarily.
This Post Has 12 Comments
I wholeheartedly agree with the Editorial Board on this topic. As I mentioned in a previous reply, limit the hours to 10PM weeknights,11PM Friday and Saturday nights. Limiting the tournament to the finsl rounds is a ridiculous proposal. Especially coming from the City that houses FIFA. The FIFA World Cup only happens every four years and not often hosted by the United States. Huge mistake if the City Beatiful limits the festivities at Fritz & Franz to the final rounds.
The World Cup is perhaps the one single event held every four years in which people of every nationality, heritage, religion, race, and language become friendly — and happy — adversaries for a few unforgettable weeks. This is precisely the spirit the United States urgently needs today, both politically and socially.
Let us, the residents of Coral Gables, set an example of civility, tolerance, and community for the rest of the country — and the world — by not allowing a small minority of people to disrupt any part of the schedule of such a magnificent global event.
Congratulations to Maite Halley for supporting this event. I agree with her comments that residents of that area are aware that this is not a residential area but downtown Coral Gables. We should be proud of being able to host a venue where people can come and enjoy the games of the World Cup.
An abuse of power by the Lago Commission.
Thank you for speaking out.
Lago and his side-kicks need to stay out of this one. We have had enough of your dictatorship with the Garden and the dog park. Leave us alone and let us enjoy this event. This is a business district
So the BID and city want more people to visit, now they’re limiting people coming to eat, drink and enjoy a global game.
This is very short sighted to say the least.
Great point – where are the BID and the Chamber (and its sycophantic “leader”) on this issue? Are you in favor of increasing revenues for local businesses or not?
Residents living near Fritz and Franz Bierhaus who may be concerned about the increased activity and noise associated with the downtown Coral Gables World Cup festivities from June 11, 2026 through July 19, 2026, are encouraged to view this as a temporary opportunity for the broader community to come together in celebration. During this short period, many local residents, visitors, and businesses will benefit from the energy and economic support these events bring to the area.
While the added noise may require some patience and adjustment, there is also value in recognizing that vibrant community events are part of what makes downtown Coral Gables a destination where people gather to celebrate important moments together.
If you buy a home next to an airport, you shouldn’t complain about aircraft noise, if you buy a home next to a school you shouldn’t complain about the noise of children playing or the drop-off, pick-up traffic.
If you buy a home in the central business district you shouldn’t complain about noise generated by businesses…especially when it’s a temporary situation which has been happening for the past 24 years, and it’s being generated by enthusiastic, happy fans which are also bringing business to the business district where they chose to live.
I agree with you completely. People should not complain if they buy property in places where there are, as you said, airports and schools, etc. But this is also about the fact that Mayor Largo and his sidekicks are becoming more and more powerful. The only way we can remedy this and it’s not going to be that soon, is at the ballot. Their political campaign rhetoric takes over and people forget the way he has ruled Coral Gables and apparently the residents have little or no say. It has truly become his way or the highway….very shameful but as I said, the ballot will fix this.
Fritz and Franz was there LONG before the residences that built up around them. You cannot expect to live in a downtown area of a City and not hear some noise once in a while. That’s like moving to Manhattan and complaining about the hustle and bustle of a major city. Make an exception – especially since Coral Gables is hosting the FIFA headquarters.
Makes absolutely no sense to not take full advantage of the World Cup event and host all game festivities in Downtown Coral Gables. It is good for FIFA (located in Coral Gables), good for residents, good for local businesses and good for the City of Coral Gables. Anyone who feels bothered about loud noise and happy neighbor gatherings, shouldn’t have moved to downtown Coral Gables. Downtown is usually where festivities and night life really happens in any city.