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Atlanta's turn on the world soccer stage kicked off Monday with a tense draw between the tiny African island nation of Cape Verde and Spain, a favorite to win soccer's biggest tournament.

Why it matters: Years of World Cup planning and months of nonstop construction have reshaped the area surrounding Mercedes-Benz Stadium — known for the next five weeks as Atlanta Stadium, per FIFA sponsorship rules — into a haven for soccer and hospitality.

The verdict: High drama and suspense on the field and plenty of options outside the gates for people who can sneak out of work to watch a noon game. 

Vibes: So far, so good, though the crowds outside the venue thinned after kickoff. 

Go experience the game-day atmosphere and the restaurants, shops and bars in Centennial Yards, South Downtown, Underground Atlanta that are now open.

MARTA trains were packed in the hours leading up to kickoff, with plenty of ambassadors and police on the platforms.

Zoom in: Nearly 68,000 people attended the match between Cape Verde, which has a population similar to Atlanta's, and Spain, the No. 3-ranked men's national team in the world as of Monday.

With the score tied at halftime, even Spain fans started cheering for Cape Verde.

The bottom line: A draw against Spain is basically a win for Cape Verde, whose goalkeeper, Vozinha, held back Spain's world-class offense shot after shot.

Speaking to reporters afterward, the goalie said he cried after the game thinking about his late grandparents, who helped raise him, and his mother, who could not afford a visa to watch him play in his country's first World Cup appearance.

What they're saying: "I love this city," Cape Verde's Steven Moreira, who's played at the stadium against Atlanta United as a member of Major League Soccer team Columbus Crew, told reporters afterward.

By the numbers: A bottle of water and hot dog will cost you a fraction of what you'll pay at other World Cup U.S. venues.

Arthur Blank, whose company AMB Sports and Entertainment operates the stadium, told the Athletic that hiking the venue's famously low concessions prices to reap World Cup profits was a non-starter.

Pro tip: Pop-up FIFA stores where fans can purchase official merchandise are located throughout the stadium. The store at Gate 1 on the ground level inside had the shortest lines during game time and halftime.

What's next: South Africa plays the Czech Republic on Thursday.

Atlanta's World Cup opener delivers drama and surprise

Underdogs Cape Verde held soccer powerhouse Spain to a draw before nearly 68,000 fans in Atlanta.

A goalkeeper wearing a yellow kit blocks a shot attempt by a player wearing red and blue with yellow lettering. The goalie's teammates wearing white watch the action. 

Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha denies Ferran Torres of Spain during the FIFA World Cup Group H match between the countries on June 15 in Atlanta. Photo: MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Atlanta&#x27;s turn on the world soccer stage kicked off Monday with a tense draw between the tiny African island nation of Cape Verde and Spain, a favorite to win soccer&#x27;s biggest tournament.Why it matters: Years of <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="World Cup planning" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/atlanta/2026/06/10/atlanta-fifa-world-cup-readiness-marta" data-vars-content-id="25de669c-992f-4e2b-9bdb-200c6a396cb1" data-vars-headline="Atlanta&#x27;s World Cup opener delivers drama and surprise" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/atlanta/2026/06/10/atlanta-fifa-world-cup-readiness-marta" target="_self">World Cup planning</a> and months of nonstop construction have reshaped the area surrounding Mercedes-Benz Stadium — known for the next five weeks as Atlanta Stadium, per FIFA sponsorship rules — into a haven for soccer and hospitality.

Sports

Georgia House Republicans shelved plans to redraw political maps during a special legislative session that began Wednesday.

Why it matters: Georgia Republicans worried a redistricting fight over state legislative and congressional seats could energize Democrats and overshadow the campaign season.

Driving the news: Republican House Speaker Jon Burns of Newington said lawmakers won't take up redistricting during this session in a Wednesday letter to Gov. Brian Kemp, as reported by the AJC.

Burns said redistricting "should take place only when members of the General Assembly and citizens have been given ample opportunity to gather the facts, provide input, and engage in meaningful discussion."

Yes, but: Kemp disagreed with Burns but yielded to the House's decision.

Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, fresh off a defeat by health care businessman Rick Jackson for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, argued that lawmakers should press forward.

"Failure to deliver is not an outcome I am willing to accept. We need to do our jobs and get this done," Jones said, according to the AJC.

Any new maps would require approval from both legislative chambers.

Catch up quick: A Supreme Court ruling in April weakened the Voting Rights Act, the landmark law that aimed at protecting minority voters from discrimination when lawmakers draw political districts.

Republican-led Legislatures in the South met to redraw court-ordered political maps and, in the process, potentially dilute Democrats' power.

Not long after, Kemp told the Georgia General Assembly that redistricting would be on the table, in addition to pushing back a deadline for the state to change how Georgia counts votes.

The big picture: Democrats and voting rights activists warned that the ensuing partisan and racial gerrymandering could draw Black lawmakers out of their districts or pit them against each other in a primary fight, Capital B Atlanta reported this month.

The southwest Georgia congressional seat held for decades by Rep. Sanford Bishop, whose bipartisan style won the respect of fellow Democrats and Republicans, was expected to be a prime target.

How it works: Special sessions rarely last long and are not legislative free-for-alls; in this case, the governor decides the issues up for consideration. Any unrelated legislation that passes during the session is deemed unconstitutional.

National

Georgia House shelves redistricting in special session

Lawmakers sidelined new political maps for now, despite pressure to move quickly this summer.

Illustration of the Georgia State Capitol with lines radiating from it.

Georgia House Republicans shelved plans to redraw political maps during a special legislative session that began Wednesday.Why it matters: Georgia Republicans worried a redistricting fight over state legislative and congressional seats could energize Democrats and overshadow the campaign season.

Politics

Life is about more than soccer. There's food and beer.

🍱 The Shops of Dunwoody is adding Tenku Sushi and Beyond Juicery + Eatery as part of a retail refresh by owner Asana Partners, which purchased the shopping center last year. (Urbanize)

⚽️ Summerhill becomes a FIFA 2026 World Cup watch-party hotbed starting on Thursday when Halfway Crooks shows the Czech Republic-South Africa match. 

Wood's Chapel BBQ will show the U.S.-Australia showdown on Friday. (AJC)

👎 Atlanta chefs and restaurants were, yet again, shut out from the James Beard Awards held Monday in Chicago. (Rough Draft)

🍗 Brookhaven-based Zaxby's has tapped a former Waffle House and Inspire Brands executive to lead the fried-chicken chain's national expansion. (Atlanta Business Chronicle)

Food news: Shops of Dunwoody lands new dining

Plus, Summerhill gears up for World Cup crowds and Zaxby's wants to go nationwide

Sunny street scene at Summit Coffee: blue storefront with white trim and brown shingled roof, outdoor seating with striped umbrellas, string lights, and tall trees in the background.

Summit Coffee at Shops of Dunwoody. Photo: Courtesy of Asana Partners

Life is about more than soccer. There&#x27;s food and beer.🍱 The Shops of Dunwoody is adding Tenku Sushi and Beyond Juicery + Eatery as part of a retail refresh by owner Asana Partners, which purchased the shopping center last year. (<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Urbanize" data-vars-click-url="https://atlanta.urbanize.city/post/shops-dunwoody-new-retail-store-neighborhood-village" data-vars-content-id="a0947392-4f91-4ac9-af87-3de7c5b41baa" data-vars-headline="Food news: Shops of Dunwoody lands new dining" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://atlanta.urbanize.city/post/shops-dunwoody-new-retail-store-neighborhood-village" target="_blank">Urbanize</a>)

Food and Drink

Atlanta's World Cup experience is expected to arrive in waves, with major match days driving the largest spikes in visitors and activity.

Zoom in: Expect peaks and valleys as excitement builds for the group-stage matches, before hitting a fever pitch during the semifinal match.

"People are coming in a couple of days before the game, and then they stay for the game, and then we drop back down, and it starts to build till the next game," William Pate, the long-serving president and CEO of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, told Axios.

Yes, but: There's still plenty happening between matches, including Fan Fest in Centennial Olympic Park, concerts at State Farm Arena, and watch parties for World Cup games played elsewhere.

Pate envisions crowds circulating between hotels, bars, Fan Fest and other gatherings, in addition to participating countries establishing fan hubs around town.

Spain, which is scheduled to play another match at Atlanta Stadium, has established a Casa España fan hub in South Downtown.

Fun fact: Most matches and fan activities are concentrated downtown, which could help limit regional traffic congestion, Pate said.

The bottom line: Think of Atlanta's 2026 hosting duties more like a multi-week music festival with some really big headliners rather than a nonstop Super Bowl.

Atlanta's World Cup will feel more like a festival than a finale

Crowds will surge around matches, then ebb before building again as Fan Fest and events continue.

A large crowd of people wearing red and white striped shirts and other U.S.-affiliated colors watch a soccer game in a large public park.

Soccer fans watch the USA-Paraguay game at Centennial Olympic Park on June 12. Photo: Jack Gorman - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

Atlanta&#x27;s World Cup experience is expected to arrive in waves, with major match days driving the largest spikes in visitors and activity.Zoom in: Expect peaks and valleys as excitement builds for the group-stage matches, before hitting a fever pitch during the semifinal match.

Republican Rep. Mike Collins on Tuesday defeated Derek Dooley and will face off against Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) in November.

Why it matters: President Trump endorsed Collins after the May 19 primary. He now faces a well-funded Democratic incumbent who's won a statewide campaign in Georgia before.

Republicans view the Georgia Democrat's seat as key to maintaining control of the U.S. Senate.

Zoom in: Collins won roughly 55% of the vote, according to preliminary results from Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office. 

The AP called the race for Collins just after 8:30pm with 52% of the vote counted.

Dooley later conceded to Collins, the AP reported. "He ran a tough campaign, he got out early and we just never could catch him."

Between the lines: The runoff became one of the clearest tests yet of the competing arguments shaping the Republican Party in Georgia and nationally: embrace MAGA or pursue an alternative path to victory. 

Collins, a trucking company owner who represents a red district between Atlanta and Augusta, ran as a Trump loyalist who made immigration enforcement a central focus of his campaign.

Kemp, a popular swing-state governor rounding out his second and final term in office, was a Dooley campaign trail fixture.

Follow the money: Collins raised $4.3 million up to the most recent disclosure deadline, according to Open Secrets. 

By comparison, Ossoff has raised more than $57 million and built one of the Senate's strongest campaign war chests.

What they're saying: In his victory speech Tuesday night, Collins thanked Dooley for running a "spirited campaign" and Kemp for "his leadership and his friendship over the years."

"We all know what the mission is here," Collins said.

On X, Ossoff slammed Collins as an "extremist" and attacked his voting record on issues like the Iran conflict.

What's next: The general election is Nov. 3.

Collins wins Georgia GOP Senate runoff, advances to Ossoff fight

Collins wins Georgia GOP Senate runoff, will face Ossoff

The result sets up one of the nation's most closely watched Senate races.

Georgia U.S. Senate candidate Mike Collins

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Collins meets with supporters at a primary night event on May 19, 2026 in Jackson, Georgia. Photo: Jason Allen/Getty Images

Thomas Wheatley

Featured stories

Georgia House shelves redistricting in special session

Food news: Shops of Dunwoody lands new dining

Collins wins Georgia GOP Senate runoff, advances to Ossoff fight

Atlanta's World Cup will feel more like a festival than a finale

Atlanta's World Cup opener delivers drama and surprise