Miami’s FIFA World Cup Poster- Another Public Art Disappointment

FIFA Official City Poster by Rubem Robierb, Miami, 2025.

The FIFA World Cup- arguably the best sports tournament to ever exist. The whole world comes together to watch a bunch of dudes from different countries kick a ball into a net.

This is not the first time I have written about art and soccer (“Pitch to Canvas” https://www.curatorforhire.com/blog/pitch-to-canvas), nor is it the first time I have expressed my thoughts on bad public art in Miami; I apologize for my repetition, but there would be no need if we stopped accepting mediocracy.

Not all the posters for the hosting cities have been released yet for the 2026 World Cup in America, but I can assure you already Miami is one of the worst.

I get Miami Vice was a legendary show, but can we please let it go? We have beaten the Miami Vice style to death, revived it into a botoxed, BBL, hair replacement Frankenstein, then gave it another beating.

When was the last time anyone saw a flamingo in Miami? Flamingos haven’t existed in the ‘wild’ in Miami for a century. Peacocks are more representative to Miami than flamingos at this point.

Another thing, is Miami only beaches, coffee and salsa? That’s what we’re showing the world we are? We could have paid homage to our Art Deco roots or our particular natural landscapes (swamps, mangroves, pine-rock lands). Instead we went the easy route. Slap a bunch of happy people on a beach, add a flamingo and make everything pink and blue.

And what is this with this Artificial Intelligence generated art style? Zero style. The color and composition is that of an image out of an elementary textbook.

Lets take a look at Toronto’s FIFA Poster-

FIFA Official City Poster by Dave Murray, Toronto, 2025.

This might be too reminiscent of Italian futurism and not fully representative of Toronto, but at least it’s not cliche. It has good color and composition.

I don’t know who is on the board for selecting the artwork/artists, but they all need an art history lesson and then be fired. I can’t hate on the artist. You can’t blame someone for making trash. Whoever said “WOW, this is gonna be what the world sees” is the problem.

V.N