Kickoff of World Cup volunteer center draws former Argentine, Colombian players

The Miami Host Committee opened the official volunteer center for the FIFA 2026 World Cup on Monday, unveiling where it will train thousands to welcome and assist the expected influx of tourists who will be cheering on their countries’ teams.

Over 6,000 volunteers from the Miami region will begin training in a space on the third floor inside Brightline’s downtown Miami station ahead of the world’s most watched sports competition. About 1.4 billion viewed the 2022 Final between Argentina and France, according to FIFA.

Duties will include working at stadiums, airports, hotels and fan zones across South Florida.

Volunteers, already chosen after going through tryouts in October, start training in March. They’ll serve the duration of the tournament, which starts June 11, 2026, in Mexico City, and ends July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey

During that time, they are required to serve eight shifts in Miami, working in one of 18 areas, including media operations, hospitality and transportation.

“Volunteers are the faces of the whole organization,” Rodney Barreto, chairman of the Miami Host Committee, said at Monday’s media event.

Volunteers, who must be 18 or older and speak English, will give directions to visitors, make recommendations, answer questions and field complaints. .

Barreto was comfortable with the Brightline station as the training location, in part because it was used for Super Bowl 54, in 2020, the last one Miami hosted.

On Monday, a sign inside the volunteer center read, “You are the heartbeat of 26.” Walls had an abundance of aqua blue, orange and light green.

There was also a mini-museum feel, with ornaments from past World Cups and pictures displayed on a wall showing each World Cup since the first one in 1930 in Uruguay. Barreto and Alina Hudak, CEO of the Miami Host Committee, gave brief remarks.

Miami is one of 11 U.S cities hosting matches. Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens will host seven games, the first on June 17 when Uruguay plays Saudi Arabia. They include a quarterfinal match on July 11 and the third-place game on July 11.

Brazil and Colombia, which have large communities in South Florida, have at least one match at Hard Rock. If Argentina wins its group, Group H, it would too.

Unfortunately, the volunteer roles, which are unpaid, don’t include match tickets or match-day access. But volunteers will get uniforms and a behind-the-scenes view of the tournament.

“They are fundamental,” Juan Manuel Martinez, former Argentine national player who attended Monday’s event, told the Miami Herald. “They live here and know the city.”

Former Colombian star Luis Carlos Perea, who played in the World Cup in 1990 and 1994, said “without volunteers, and without the workers, this won’t be a successful World Cup.”

Perea, who has lived in Miami for nearly three decades and also attended Monday’s event, said in an interview with the Herald that having Miami as a host city “is very emotional for us Latinos.”

Excitement is especially building in Argentina, due in part to Lionel Messi playing for Inter Miami and living in South Florida.

Martinez said, “Miami is going to explode with Argentines.”