Welcome!

James

It’s a funny old game, football. One moment it’s 90 minutes of watching your local League Two team getting battered on a waterlogged pitch with a soggy pasty in hand, the next it’s a matter of national pride – and an excuse to travel, explore, and see new places through the lens of competition, camaraderie and a fair bit of chaos.

This summer, the world will come to play football (not soccer) across North America for the 2026 FIFA World Cup™. 78 games will be hosted on US soil, including every match from the quarter finals onwards, so we’ve done the decent thing and mapped it all out for you: a total guide to every US host city, so you can navigate your way from group stages to glory (or at least to the nearest pub) with confidence.

But to focus solely on football would be rather missing the point. This is, after all, a sporting nation that rarely does anything by halves (it’s usually three periods, four quarters or nine innings). In this issue, we look at this year’s biggest US sporting events, trace a route through LA’s high-speed car culture and find out why Pittsburgh’s pierogies are a baseball institution.

We step into the raucous, elbow-jostling world of roller derby in Austin – equal parts sport and spectacle, with just enough mischief to keep things interesting – then go hiking in the Catskills. Boston, meanwhile, offers something altogether more reflective:

a look at how the Celtics beat racism to become not just champions on the court, but a team woven into the wider story of social change in American sport.

And then there are the curveballs: with some 1.2 million international visitors expected to descend on the United States for the World Cup, it seems only prudent to consider what happens when the luggage doesn’t quite keep up. In Alabama, we visit Unclaimed Baggage – part retail oddity, part cautionary tale – where the weird contents of wayward suitcases find a second life. One suspects their stock may be particularly well refreshed this summer.

So yes, there’s footie, and plenty of it, but consider this issue a broader sporting tour: one that takes in the speed, the grit, the snacks, the history and the oddities that make travelling for sport such a pleasure from the kick off. Now, go on – hoof it.

James

James Draven Editor

SI WILLMORE Cities and sports

Sport has always had an incredible ability to bring people together, be it lower league cricket or Super Bowl Sunday. Let's hope the World Cup will do the same this year; we need it more than ever. It's coming home!

KAV DADFAR World Cup cities

Nothing matches a stay in a World Cup host city. Think loud streets, late nights, flags everywhere and strangers singing with you. This issue of JRNY America is your guide to greatest show on earth this summer.

SARAH RODRIGUES Austin, Texas

When I grow up, I want to be a TXRD skater. I’ll be called Violet Rumble, after the Australian honeycomb and chocolate bar, Violet Crumble – a nod to my roots. Naturally, I’ll wear purple and yellow to match.

JAMES DRAVEN Boston, Massachusetts

Boston’s sporting history tells the story of an unfinished journey towards equality. When the ignorant confused prejudice for patriotism, the Celtics and NBA icon Bill Russell led the charge against racism.

ROBIN MCKELVIE Stuart, Florida

Stuart is a rarity: Americans love it, but virtually no-one outside of the US has heard of it – except anglers, of course. But Stuart is more than fishing, with beaches, superb food and a well-preserved heritage core.

JONATHAN THOMPSON Scottsboro, Alabama

Lost luggage is usually an unwanted byproduct of a holiday, not a tourist attraction in itself. But Unclaimed Baggage in rural Alabama has become just that: a celebration of the world’s misplaced suitcases.