World Cup Wire: Mayors, Courts, and Flags in the Global Soccer Fever

A POLITICO live-updates digest spans Philadelphia mayor Cherelle Parker at a fan festival during the World Cup, Italy’s FIGC leadership reshuffle amid political interference, GOP surrogates cheering World Cup tourism, ongoing debates over South Korea’s military service exemptions and Son Heung-min, Germany’s ambivalent patriotism amid AfD influence, and a California court ruling upholding Inglewood’s billboard deal near SoFi Stadium, illustrating how politics, law and culture intersect with the 2026 World Cup.