FIFA World Cup parties at MacArthur Park hit by bed bug concerns

Thousands of soccer fans are expected to pour into Los Angeles’s MacArthur Park this weekend for massive FIFA World Cup watch parties.

But public records obtained by The California Post reveal one unwelcome guest could already be waiting: bed bugs.

While Los Angeles Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who oversees the area, has promoted the event as a celebration of the park’s revival, newly released city records show bed bugs topped the park’s hazardous pest cleanup list, with at least 36 documented removals over the past year.

And that’s only part of the picture.

The same records show city sanitation crews cleaned up 769 incidents involving blood, mold, body fluids and rodents.

Workers also removed rodent droppings at least 1,035 times, illustrating the ongoing public health problems inside one of Los Angeles’ most troubled parks.

The Post has spent the past year documenting conditions at MacArthur Park, where residents and homeless individuals described recurring bed bug infestations.

Some told The Post the bugs became so unbearable they shaved their heads in a desperate attempt to escape them.

The park has also become one of the city’s most visible symbols of Los Angeles’ homelessness and drug crisis.

Over the past year, The Post has repeatedly documented sprawling encampments, open drug use, discarded needles, prostitution, violent crime and people appearing to suffer fentanyl overdoses throughout the park.

Videos and photographs have routinely captured people slumped over on sidewalks in zombie-like states as outreach workers, police officers and sanitation crews struggled to keep pace.

City leaders have spent millions on cleanups, outreach and enforcement in an effort to reclaim the park.

Despite those challenges, Hernandez is hosting the free two-day Park to Park 2026 event in partnership with Metro as part of the city’s “Reconnecting MacArthur Park” initiative, an effort to transform the park into a family-friendly destination ahead of the 2028 Olympics and the World Cup.

Saturday’s celebration expands along Wilshire Boulevard from noon until 9 p.m., featuring additional watch parties for Norway vs. England and Argentina vs. Switzerland, along with live music, food vendors, youth soccer clinics and family activities.

The troubling sanitation records also come as Los Angeles earns another unwanted distinction.

Earlier this week, The Post reported Los Angeles ranked as the second-worst city in America for bed bugs, according to Orkin’s 2026 Bed Bug Cities List. Only Chicago ranked higher.

Health experts say bed bugs are not known to spread disease, but the insects can leave itchy bites, trigger allergic reactions and easily hitch rides on clothing, backpacks and luggage.

For the thousands of fans expected to descend on MacArthur Park this weekend, excitement for the World Cup may not be the only thing they bring home.