The 2026 World Cup Tournament officially kicks off on Thursday with celebrations across the continent.

Locally, Downtown Grand Rapids Inc (DGRI) and 24 Downtown businesses are teaming up to commemorate the World Cup with the Around The World Downtown Scavenger Hunt.

Participants can explore and support the participating Downtown businesses and organizations for a chance to win prizes from our new professional soccer team, AC Grand Rapids, and Gazelle Sports.

The grand prize for five lucky participants that complete the scavenger hunt is a behind-the-scenes tour of Amway Stadium this year! These five winners will each get to bring a guest with them on the tour.

Gazelle Sports is also donating prizes for anyone that completes the hunt:

• USA 94 Graphic T-Shirt
• Mexico 26 Originals Baseball Cap & FIFA World Cup 26 Trionda Mini Ball
• Two $50 gift cards to Gazelle

Finally, AC Grand Rapids is providing 48 swag bags for prizes, as well.

How it Works:

The Around The World Downtown Scavenger Hunt is designed to celebrate the World Cup, provide information about each participating country, and give people a reason to explore our Downtown. The hunt will run from Thursday, June 11 to Friday, July 24, 2026.

Each participant must pick up a “passport” at the Downtown Grand Rapids Inc (DGRI) office during regular business hours – 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday. The DGRI office is located at 29 Pearl Street NW, Suite 1, Grand Rapids, MI 49503. There are 250 passports available on a first come, first served basis.

Please note that the DGRI office is closed on Friday, June 19, 2026 in observance of Juneteenth and Friday, July 2, 2026 in observance of Independence Day.

Once you have your passport, you need to visit all of the participating locations to get a sticker for every country competing in this World Cup tournament. Each location has stickers for two different countries – simply look for the Around The World Downtown Scavenger Hunt poster and map at each location, walk in, show your passport and ask for the stickers.

Once you have completed the hunt and collected the stickers for every country, return to the DGRI office and present your passport to be entered into a drawing for the prizes listed above.

The first 48 participants to present a completed passport will receive an AC Grand Rapids swag bag and be entered into the drawing for the Amway Stadium tour and the prizes from Gazelle Sports.

The very first person to complete the hunt and present their passport at DGRI will automatically win the stadium tour!

“We created this scavenger hunt to celebrate this year’s World Cup while also exposing participants to all of the great businesses throughout Downtown Grand Rapids,” said Corey Mathein, Project Manager at DGRI. “It’s a fun way to learn about all the countries in the tournament and connect this global event to our community.”

“We’re extremely grateful for the support and partnership from AC Grand Rapids and Gazelle Sports,” Mathein added. “We think all of the prizes, especially a sneak peak at our new stadium, will give people an exciting reason to participate.”

Additional opportunities to gather stickers will be available at certain upcoming events at Las Canchas. Stay tuned for more details.

Finally, everyone that picks up a passport at DGRI will also receive a free, commemorative FIFA World Cup 2026 album from Panini America.

Any questions related to the Around The World Downtown Scavenger Hunt can be directed to Corey Mathein: cmathein@downtowngr.org.