Featured Event: Ceremony
FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 USA OPENING CEREMONY
EVENT TYPE
ceremony
ROLE
Senior Manager,
Scenic & Systems
CLIENT
FIFA
EVENT MANAGEMENT COMPANY
Balich Wonder Studio (BWS)
Project Lead (FIFA)
Mark Forrest
Senior Manager, Ceremonies (FIFA)
Liana Acton
Exec. Producer (BWS)
Julian Hill
Technical Directors
Tom Casey (FIFA)
Pedro Zuchi (BWS)
Technical Manager
Timothy Durant (FIFA)
LOCATION
Los Ángeles
YEAR
2026
OBJECTIVE
FIFA’s objective was clear: to create the greatest football opening ceremony ever seen. To that end, they commissioned Milan-based production company Balich Wonder Studio as the event management company, to deliver a ceremony featuring multiple performances, flown FIFA letters, flown flags, staging, lighting, audio, pyro (both ground and flown), several pitch cloths, and hundreds of cast and volunteers.
CHALLENGE
A mega-event of this scale required very precise cooperation with multiple FIFA functional areas, such as Venue Management, Operations and Technical Resources, Overlay, Pitch Management, Broadcast, Broadcast Services, Partner Rights Delivery. Volunteers, Ticketing, and Football Technology & Innovation. Our challenge was to represent these and other FIFA functional areas, supervising BWS’ delivery of the show, while simultaneously providing them with the information they needed to deliver it.
SOLUTION
The solution was two-fold:
– Identify the production’s specific technical needs, such as critical and overlay power; front-of-house fabrication; fiber and wireless connectivity; communications; rigging; and scenic delivery and installation.
– Work with each appropriate FIFA functional area to provide BWS with the support they needed to deliver the show that FIFA wanted. Developing solid relationships and friendships helped to resolve otherwise competing agendas, particularly in terms of schedule and pitch protection.
RESULTS
FIFA and BWS succeeded in delivering the most ambitious football opening ceremony of all time. This USA Opening County match was watched by 27.5 million people (the worldwide tournament viewership was over 5 billion), and the ceremony ran flawlessly.
