Kensington students help paint World Cup mural celebrating soccer and the community’s deep Latino roots 

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Soccer fever is taking over Philadelphia ahead of the FIFA World Cup, and not just at the Linc and Lemon Hill.

On Wednesday, students and neighbors of Pan American Academy Charter School in Kensington began painting a soccer-themed mural that will go up on the school’s building ahead of this summer’s six games in Philly.

“Our community has deep roots in our Latino culture and football is an integral part of that. Soccer reflects the collective spirit and the determination of our students and families,” said Darcy Russotto, the principal and CEO of the school. “This mural will be a reminder to our students that their voices, customs, and heritage shine brightly, not only in our school community, but in our city as well.” 

The community paint day was collaboration between the city’s host organization, Philadelphia Soccer 2026, Mural Arts, Congreso de Latinos Unidos and the city, with support from investment management company Vanguard. 

“A global event like the World Cup to leave behind something meaningful and lasting and this mural will do exactly that,” said A.J. Jordan, Vanguard’s head of community stewardship. “It will celebrate the love of the game, reflect the identity of this important community, and stand as a visible reminder that major moments on the world stage can and should create real value close to home.”

The design for mural, “Love of the Game” by Nilé Livingston, was actually created back when Philly was still bidding to be one of the 16 host cities for the 2026 edition of the tournament. The COVID-19 pandemic prevented it from finding a physical home. Instead, it was built out digitally as a mosaic using photos submitted by thousands of soccer fans, which eventually was displayed in the Independence Visitor’s Center. Philly Soccer 2026 also held a contest for the host city poster, which was won by Pittsburgh artist Nicholas McClintock.

Meg Kane, the then-bid CEO and now host city executive, said the group promised to make Livingston’s design a true Philly mural if Philly won its bid.

“Philadelphia has always been the mural capital of the world, and today we get to add our World Cup chapter to its beautiful shared story,” she said.

Livingston only had to make minor adjustments to update the mural for its future home, an east facing wall of the school building facing N. American Street. She added the flags of the nine countries that will be playing in Philly’s five group stage games and tweaked the aspect ratio slightly to fit the 20-by-40 foot wall.

Livingston said she was happy to see young people and members of the community helping to bring it to life. 

“I think good art is art that evolves over time and I love the fact that despite the original design being digital, it’s now being brought to life in a tangible way and that young people are helping us paint it. So, I’m really excited that it’s going to have a home here on the side of the school.”

To help accommodate all artistic levels, the mural was broken up into a paint-by-numbers style format, with the colors premixed and artists guiding the painting. Donna Grace Kroh was leading the painting process and said it was fun to see the students get inspired, whether it was towards art or the sport the art was portraying.

“What I love about this mural is that there are kids in the mural. There’s two kids of color playing soccer and it looks like they’re within this big stage,” Kroh said. “I love that we can actually inspire the kids and the people who can’t even buy a ticket, who don’t have access to being inside the tournaments and seeing the matches, that they can at least see this mural and get inspired seeing people that reflect them in their community.”

Much of the focus leading up to the World Cup has been focussed on the games at the Linc — named “Philadelphia Stadium” for the summer — the influx of tourism and business coming to the region, and the Fan Festival site at East Fairmount Park’s Lemon Hill. Jonathan Todd, Philadelphia Soccer 2026’s director of social impact, said that gatherings like these show that the impact of the World Cup extends to locations and communities beyond just those talking points.

“Recognizing that this is something from the far northeast to the deep southwest and everywhere in between and beyond,” he said. “About just not making it for the now, but for months, years, decades from now, still having these fond memories and experiences to look back on.”