Fans take in World Cup quarterfinals at FIFA Fan Festival Atlanta

Curator’s Note: The atmosphere at Centennial Olympic Park is absolutely electric! As defending World Cup champs Argentina took on Switzerland, the FIFA Fan Festival was packed with thousands of fans braving the afternoon rain. A huge congratulations to England for punching their ticket to the semi-finals right here in Atlanta after a nail-biting extra-time victory over Norway!

Full Broadcast Transcript

[News Anchor/Transition] ”…We have a live look right now over the FIFA Fan Festival tonight as soccer fans pack Centennial Olympic Park downtown to watch defending World Cup champs, Argentina, take on Switzerland in the quarterfinals. The winner is going to be headed right here to Atlanta to play England in the semifinals. One step closer to World Cup glory. Reporter Justin Barker is live from Centennial Olympic Park.”

[Justin Barker Reporting] “Very exciting for those England fans here in Atlanta. Victory was a raucous afternoon; extra time was required for that result, with England, of course, beating Norway. You can see we still have some England fans in the crowd here this evening. There is a lot of noise, as you can imagine, with a heavy, heavy Argentina presence for their match tonight against Switzerland.

I want to show you a little earlier this afternoon, just a few hours ago, when England knocked off Norway to get into the semifinals. They will play the winner of the Argentina-Switzerland match. It was definitely an England-heavy crowd earlier. Of course, there were Norwegian fans here, but the majority of the thousands of people in Centennial Olympic Park were just there to watch a good soccer match.

It was one of the highest turnouts I’ve seen out here at the park. The weather this afternoon has stayed clear since about 4:30. We had a solid amount of rain up until that point, which delayed the opening half. But it was a big payoff for those England fans living here in Atlanta to stick around in that weather.”

[Fan Interview] “It feels like one of my people is doing well right now.”

[Justin Barker/Vargas Reporting] “One fan, who has been in Atlanta for three years, says he is going to try and fly back home to England by Wednesday to be with his family to watch that semifinal matchup.

We’re live from Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta. Justin Vargas, Atlanta News First.”