WORCESTER—The El Salvador men’s team and the Italy women’s team each used a pair of late second-half goals to secure victories in the finals of the Worcester World Cup on Sunday afternoon.
Loyal fans of soccer on a global scale are well aware that they can only watch the FIFA World Cup every four years. But locally, the Worcester World Cup is played every summer at Foley Stadium amidst a festive atmosphere of international music, ethnic food offerings and supporters proudly displaying their country’s flag and colors.
“It’s such a fun atmosphere,” said Anna Hurley, a player for Italy. “It’s so cool to see people representing their countries and how passionate they are about it. I really enjoy it every year. It always brings back my love for the sport by playing in this tournament.”
Hurley helped propel Italy to its sixth consecutive Worcester World Cup title since 2017 by finding the back of the net twice in the final 14 minutes for a 2-0 shutout of Scotland.
A Wakefield native with family ancestry tied to Sicily, Hurley was also on the Italy team that won the tournament in 2023. She played soccer briefly at Oklahoma State University before competing professionally in Australia earlier this year.
On the men’s side, the championship final played out in similar fashion with El Salvador scoring two goals in the final 10 minutes to down Guatemala 2-0. Although they dominated play throughout, a few late substitutions helped get things going for El Salvador, which broke a span of 50 scoreless minutes of play by both teams. A substitute forward knocked in a header for a 1-0 lead before Euclides Ramos sealed the win with an impressive goal just three and a half minutes later.
“It was a great tournament,” said El Salvador’s captain Carlos Ligares. “All the games were tough. The last one, the final, was really tough. Guatemala was a hard team for us to beat.”
Ligares, a native of El Salvador and a resident of Milford, has played in the Worcester World Cup for eight years. He came to the United States in 2001.
The three-day Worcester World Cup, in its 19th year, featured 20 teams, representing 19 different countries. Women’s teams were the United States, Italy, Scotland and Guatemala.
The 16 teams on the men’s side were Albania, Guatemala, Somalia, Honduras, Jamaica, Togo, Nigeria, Liberia, Ecuador, Afghanistan, Haiti, Iraq, Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya and El Salvador.
Adriana Ojeda-Joslyn, the executive director of the Pleasant Street Neighborhood Network Center (PSNNC), said the event annually has more than 300 players and attracts between 2,000 to 3,000 spectators.
The PSNNC is the new home of Cultural Exchange Through Soccer (CETS), a free, year-long soccer program for children in the neighborhood. Each year the revenue generated from the Worcester World Cup helps pay for the CETS program.
The dry weather on Saturday and Sunday was a welcome sign after some rain fell on Friday night during the opening games. True to form, the precipitation did not deter many attendees from cheering on their respective countries.
“There was a little rain at the beginning, but if you know anything about soccer fans, you play no matter what,” said Ojeda-Joslyn.
Mike Vigneux is a freelance writer in Worcester with more than 20 years of experience in the fields of municipal government, communications, and public relations. An avid fan of all sports, Mike enjoys telling the stories of local athletes and their teams. He holds two degrees from Clark University, a bachelor of arts in Communication and a master of science in Professional Communication. He can be reached at Mikevigs@gmail.com
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