Sports should never belong to finance capital. Genocide and imperialist violence should not be normalized while our schools close and rents crush us. Security agencies should not terrorize our neighbors while our military terrorizes the world. FIFA offers sport as spectacle. We say no.
NOlympics LA is curating a calendar of community events that collectively counterprogram the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Counterprogramming offers alternatives to dominant narratives and structures, encouraging urgent critiques of the status quo and insisting that another world is possible. An event’s inclusion on this list does not mean the event organizers endorse the People’s World Cup Program or NOlympics LA. Instead, we at NOlympics are highlighting events that we understand as challenging the commercialized, imperialist mega-event machine, whether they:
- protest FIFA and/or the World Cup hosts directly
- highlight the communities that are negatively impacted by mega-events, supporting and celebrating their struggles
- reclaim the world’s most popular sport for the people
This is the People’s World Cup Program.
Saturday May 24 – Los Angeles
Film screening: The March of the White Elephants
When: 4-7pm
Where: Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice
Organized by: Black Alliance for Peace SoCal
Tuesday June 2 – Los Angeles
International Whores’ Day 2026
When: 5-9pm
Where: LA LGBT Center
Organized by: Stripper Worker Center, the LA LGBT Center, the ONE Institute, and partners
Wednesday June 3 – Toronto
Call Out for Outreach and Community Care During FIFA
Where: on Zoom
When: 3pm EST
Organized by: Toronto Underhoused and Homeless Union
Wednesday June 3 – Los Angeles
Ghetto Running Day
Where: Watts
When: evening
Organized by: South Central Run Club and partners
Friday June 5 – Los Angeles
“El fútbol es del pueblo” Opening Reception at Espacio 1839
When: 6-10pm
Where: Espacio 1839, Boyle Heights
Friday June 5 – New York City
Art build and teach in
When: 7-10pm
Where: Ridgewood Commons
Organized by: Autonomous Football League
Saturday June 6 – Mexico City
Jornada Antimundialista (Anti World Cup Day)
When: 11am ceremony for the life, struggle, and resistance of Samir Flores; 2pm Anti-FIFA tournament
Where: Casa de los Pueblos Samir Flores Soberanes
Organized by: Asamblea Por el Común y Contra la Guerra
Saturday June 6 – Los Angeles
Commemoration: “The People’s Heroic Victory Over the Border Control in Paramount & Compton”
When: 12pm
Where: Paramount Home Depot
Organized By: Community Self Defense Coalition, Boycott Home Depot Coalition, and partners
Sunday June 7 – multi-city (virtual)
Chinatowns Against FIFA
When: 10AM PST / 1pm EST
Where: Virtual
Organized by: Coast to Coast Chinatown Solidarity Network, featuring Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver, Philadelphia
Sunday June 7 – Los Angeles
Boycott Home Depot action
When: 2pm
Where: Inglewood
Organized by: Boycott Home Depot coalition
Sunday June 7 – Mexico City
Conferencia de prensa para anunciar las acciones antimundialistas (Press conference to announce anti-World Cup actions)
When: 11am
Where: en el bajo puente del Estadio Azteca
Organized by: Antifa Antififa, Asamblea Por el Común y Contra la Guerra, and partners
Sunday June 7 – New York City
Bella Ciao BBQ
When: 10am
Where: Prospect Park
Organized by: Leftwing Futbolistas
Tuesday June 9 – Virtual / Mexico City
“No kings, no queens, no FIFA: Colloquium on resistance to current forms of authoritarianism and dispossession
When: 12PM CST
Where: YouTube
Organized by: El Laboratorio sobre Activismos y Alternativas de Base (LACAB) at UNAM and partners
Tuesday June 9 – Mexico City
“La pared es nuestra” (The wall is ours) anti-mural installation
When: 5:30pm
Where: Estadio Azteca
Wednesday June 10 – Mexico City
Pinta Masiva CDMX: Graffiti Anti Mundial
When: 10am
Where: Periférico sur
Wednesday June 10 – Toronto
Book launch: Amanda De Lisio’s Play Naked: Puta Economies Against Olympic Dispossession
When: 7PM
Where: Another Story Bookshop
Organized by: Another Story Bookshop and McGill-Queen’s University Press
Thursday June 11 – Mexico City
La Segunda Mega Reta contra la inauguración del mundial (against the World Cup kickoff)
Organized by: Antifa Antififa, Asamblea Por el Común y Contra la Guerra, and partners
Thursday June 11 – Mexico City
Marcha de Todas las Luchas: En defensa de la vida y contra la destrucción de los pueblos
When: 8:30am
Where: frente al suburbia y el centro comercial del Yaqui, Cuajimalpa
Organized by: Cuajimalpa Resiste
Thursday June 11 – Guadalajara
Boicot al Mundial: Dónde están nuestros desaparecidxs?
When: 5pm
Where: el el cruce de Juárez y La Calzada
Organized by: Asamblea Popular Jalisco and partners
Saturday June 13 – Santa Clara (San Francisco Bay Area)
Action: Stop Supporting Fascism, Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity & Profits Over People
When: 11am
Where: Levi Stadium, Santa Clara
Organized by: the Black Alliance for Peace, Anti-Fascist Football Coalition, and partners
June 15, June 17, July 3 – Washington DC, NYC, and Toronto
Book talks: Jules Boykoff’s Red Card: The 2026 World Cup, Sportswashing, and the FIFA Greed Machine
Washington DC, June 15, 6pm at Busboys and Poets, featuring Jules Boykoff and Dave Zirin. More details here
NYC, June 17, 6:30pm at the Francis Kite Club, featuring Jules Boykoff, Brenda Elsey, Dave Zirin. More details here
Toronto, July 3, 7pm at Another Story Bookstore, featuring Shireen Ahmed, Priyansh, and Jules Boykoff. More details here
Tuesday June 16 – New York City
Kick the Colonizer World Cup Watch Party
When: 3-11pm
Where: Starr Bar
Organized by: Leftwing Futbolistas
More info and registration here
Sunday June 21 – Los Angeles (and other host cities)
Sportswashing Protest Against FIFA
When: 11am
Where: SoFi Stadium (or another stadium near you)
Organized by: Sierra Club
Wednesday June 24 – Toronto
Pro-Palestine WC Watch Party
When: 8-11:30pm
Where: United Steelworkers Hall
Thursday June 25 – Los Angeles
Screening: Crushing Wheelchairs
When: Doors open 6pm, screening at 7pm
Where: Vidiots at the Eagle Theater
Organized by: Crushing Wheelchairs, Aetna Street Solidarity, and partners
Sunday June 28 – Los Angeles
Long Beach Block Party
When: 1-5pm
Where: Bixby Park, Long Beach
Organized by: Care Culture Collaborative (featuring NOlympics LA)
Let us know if there’s an event you think we should add! We’re looking for events in summer 2026, primarily in the 16 World Cup host cities but we’ll consider particularly relevant events elsewhere.