ATLANTA — If you want a sense of how a World Cup match might look in Atlanta in three years' time, two of the Premier League's biggest clubs at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Wednesday night gave something of a glimpse.
The domed Benz has the effect of filling to the brim with noise and creating a kind of droning effect when a roar really reaches its peak. You could hear it for Newcastle's Miguel Almiron - once a star at Atlanta United - before the match.
You could imagine, say, Thiago Almada - now a star at Atlanta United - with Argentina on the receiving end of a similar scene in 2026.
RELATED: Four English clubs, including Newcastle and Chelsea, coming to Atlanta for summer doubleheader
And when something truly special happens - like Almiron's goal to end the first half, in front of what was once his home crowd - the Benz can be downright deafening.
Atlanta, proudly a soccer town since United's arrival in 2017, was buzzing for the Premier League showcase. 11Alive spoke with people who came from all over, near and far, before the match - Charlotte, Minneapolis, Charleston, Decatur. And, of course, you couldn't go very far without hearing an English accent.
Newcastle and Chelsea were the headline act of a doubleheader that began earlier in the evening with Brentford and Brighton.
The highlight was Almiron's goal - pretty much what everyone from Atlanta going to this match had come hoping to see.
The midfielder received a pass on a run, pressed into the box with a pair of touches and coolly finished with his left foot into the far corner - the kind of goal he scored many times in this building before.
With that, the crowd erupted.
Atlanta has fashioned itself one of America's soccer capitals - potentially set up to host one of the prime matches in the 2026 World Cup.
On Wednesday night, with the Premier League making Atlanta its playground, the stadium and the city sure looked the part, especially in front of a sold out crowd of 70,789 at The Benz.
