Seattle is fully swept up in FIFA men's World Cup fever, and it’s visible even from the sky. The iconic Space Needle, the city’s main symbol, has been turned into a giant soccer ball. On Thursday, climbers descended from the tower’s top and hand-painted black-and-white patterns just above the observation deck. The city did this to mark its status as a World Cup host — Seattle’s first match will take place on June 15, when Belgium faces Egypt.
This isn’t the first temporary makeover of the famous landmark. The Needle has previously been painted in the colors of local sports teams — the University of Washington Huskies football team, the baseball Mariners and the basketball Supersonics. In 2022, for its 60th anniversary, the tower was covered in “Galactic Gold” — the same shade used when it was built for the 1962 World’s Fair. A year later it was again painted “Astronaut White.”
Based on: Space Needle, painted as giant soccer ball, gets in on World Cup fever