It started with a roar in Times Square.
Hundreds of Palmeiras supporters poured into Midtown Manhattan the night before their Club World Cup opener, waving green flags and belting out their anthem in Portuguese. Under the glow of LED billboards and bewildered tourists, they turned one of the world’s busiest intersections into a slice of São Paulo.
It wasn’t a one-off. It was just the opening note in a growing symphony of sound, color, and cultural pride echoing across the U.S. this summer.
Three of the loudest and proudest clubs at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup—Palmeiras of Brazil, Boca Juniors of Argentina, and Al Ahly of Egypt—haven’t just shown up. They’ve taken over. With marches, chants, and thousands of supporters in full voice, they’ve made Miami, New York, and New Jersey feel like home.
This is the story of how fans from three continents are shaping the tournament’s heartbeat, one rally, one tifo, and one beach takeover at a time.
Palmeiras: The green wave hits New York
There’s something disorienting about walking through Times Square and hearing the chant “Palmeiras, meu Palmeiras” over the screech of taxis and street vendors.
But that’s precisely what happened before the Brazilian club’s Group A opener. Supporters swarmed the plaza, green smoke rising into the air, as pounding drums echoed off the glass towers.
It wasn’t just for spectacle. The next day, they filled the American Dream Mall in New Jersey, converting a food court into a fan fest. They sang, danced, and made it clear—Palmeiras had arrived.
When the team took the field at MetLife Stadium, the effect was immediate. Green dominated the stands. Flags rippled. Flares were lit. Drums didn’t stop. The match against Porto ended in a 0–0 draw, but the fans never quieted.
Even before kickoff, fans had painted the area in green, filling sections of the stadium and surrounding plazas with color, music, and energy.
Boca Juniors: Banderazo by the beach
Miami Beach isn’t a stranger to noise, but even it had to pause when Boca Juniors fans staged their version of a pre-match rally.
More than 1,000 blue and yellow-clad supporters turned a stretch of Bark Beach into “Boca Beach,” blasting drums, waving banners, and grilling asado under the Florida sun. The local crowd watched, phones out, as Boca supporters broke into full-throated renditions of their terrace anthems.
A small plane even circled overhead, dragging a banner that read “Rest in Peace, you died in Madrid 09/12/18.” It was a taunt from rival River Plate fans. Boca ignored it. The party continued.
The next day, Boca fans packed Hard Rock Stadium. Attendance topped 61,000. Drums, chants, and an avalanche of gold and blue made it feel like a Copa Libertadores night in Buenos Aires.
Al Ahly: Red reign in Miami
Inter Miami was technically the home team in the tournament opener, but you’d never know it. Red shirts outnumbered pink. Arabic chants rolled through Hard Rock Stadium.
Al Ahly, Africa’s most decorated club, brought its global fanbase with it. Over 10,000 Egyptian supporters sang from whistle to whistle. Banners flew. Drums pulsed. They even broke into Cristiano Ronaldo’s “Siuu” celebration in unison after the final whistle.
Coach Jose Riveiro said, “It was like we were playing in Cairo.”
The chanting carried on long after the final whistle. Fans remained in full voice well into the evening, their presence transforming a neutral stadium into something unmistakably Egyptian.
That effect is starting to ripple. Palmeiras supporters transformed Times Square into a vibrant green carnival. Boca Juniors brought the beach to life with a banderazo under the Florida sun. And more clubs will follow. There are matches to be won, but the cultural ground war is already underway.
