Can We See Some World Cup Magic in the Bay Area this Summer?
One might think that there is no topping the hosting of the Super Bowl, but the Bay Area will arguably host a bigger sporting event – at least part of it – this summer. The FIFA World Cup is coming to North America, with games taking place across the USA (primarily), Canada and Las Vegas.
As one of the top sports venues in the country, Levi’s Stadium will be hosting some of those games. Six games overall, in fact. Yet, if we can be truly objective about it, there will be a distinct lack of glamour games at Levi’s Stadium, initially at least. You can take a look at the confirmed games below:
Saturday, June 13, 2026 — Qatar vs Switzerland (Group stage)
Tuesday, June 16, 2026 — Austria vs Jordan (Group stage)
Friday, June 19, 2026 — TBD vs Paraguay (Group stage)
Monday, June 22, 2026 — Jordan vs Algeria (Group stage)
Thursday, June 25, 2026 — Paraguay vs Australia (Group stage)
Wednesday, July 1, 2026 — TBD vs TBD (Round of 32).
Now, if you are familiar with soccer, you’ll know that none of those teams are considered international heavyweights. Switzerland has the lowest odds among the teams listed above, and DraftKings Online Sportsbook has put the Swiss at +90000 to win. In short, it’s highly unlikely that the future World Cup winner will emerge from those teams above.
If we can fill in the blanks: the TBD team playing Paraguay will come from the final UEFA (European) Qualifiers, so it will be one of Slovakia, Turkey, Kosovo or Romania. The Round of 32 will be between the winner of Group D, which could possibly be the United States, against the 3rd placed team from one of several groups, i.e., it could be any one of 20 teams.
If it all sounds a little bit complicated, it is due to the fact that the expanded World Cup – going from 32 teams to 48 – has made things a bit more complex. Moreover, it has been a widely held criticism that the expansion has lowered the quality of the tournament.
Does it matter? In a word, no. World Cups have often thrown up surprises, and there is just as much chance that the game between Qatar and Switzerland to get the tournament underway in the Bay Area throws up as much excitement as a blockbuster between Brazil and Argentina.
A carnival atmosphere in the Bay Area
There will be a carnival atmosphere across the region during those dates. And the best part? It will change up every few days. One day, the Bay Area will be loaded with Austrian fans, then a few days later, Paraguayan fans will arrive to replace them. If you want to get a flavor of what it is like, YouTube is filled with videos of the 1994 World Cup, with footage of fans in and around the stadiums, including Stanford Stadium, which held the Bay Area’s allotted games.
We will, of course, have to wait to see how things pan out. Those criticisms about the World Cup being too bloated remain valid, but sports – all sports – have a way of surprising you, and you can be sure that those teams and fans coming from all corners of the earth to the Bay Area will bring a lot of passion for a festival of soccer this summer.
