Celebrating 250 with a World Cup Party

Event description

  • Free
  • Open to the public
  • Sports

With the FIFA Men's World Cup coming to North America this summer, it's worth asking: How did Americans finally come to embrace soccer, the world's most popular sport — after initially rejecting it with the same vehemence with which we rejected the metric system? Join the Great Game Lab at Arizona State University, the Center for Law and Global Affairs at ASU Law, and New America to consider this question at a special event on the evening of Tuesday, May 12.

Filmmaker Yana Pashaeva will screen her 30-minute documentary 
Gritty but Global, exploring Philadelphia's soccer story, followed by a panel discussion on what hosting the world's biggest sporting event means for the United States as it celebrates its semiquincentennial. Panelists include Pashaeva; Andrés Martinez, author of The Great Game: A Tale of Two Footballs and America's Quest to Conquer Global Sport; and Ambassador of Croatia to the United States Pjer Šimunović.

Registration opens at 5:30 PM | Program begins at 6:00 PM

ASU Barrett & O'Connor Washington Center (1800 I St NW, 8th Floor)
Dinner provided. Admission is free, but space is limited. Please RSVP to secure your seat.

Event contact

Date

Tuesday, May 12, 2026



Time

5:30 pm – 8:30 pm (EDT)

2:30 pm5:30 pm (MST)


Location

ASU Barrett & O'Connor Washington Center

Cost

Free