{"id":1338,"date":"2026-06-06T13:36:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T13:36:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1338"},"modified":"2026-06-06T13:36:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T13:36:34","slug":"a-snapshot-of-the-bay-areas-8-world-cup-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1338","title":{"rendered":"A snapshot of the Bay Area’s 8 World Cup teams"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Catching up on the World Cup before games start in the Bay Area next weekend? Here are the basics on the eight nations set to play group-stage matches in Santa Clara, before a Round of 32 match on July 1:<\/p>\n

Read more Crockett, the waterside town that time forgot, is a lovely Bay Area day trip<\/a><\/p>\n

Algeria<\/h3>\n

FIFA ranking:<\/strong> 28
\nELO ranking: <\/strong>28
\nCoach: <\/strong>Vladimir Petkovi\u0107 (Nationality: Bosnia and Herzegovina)
\nWorld Cup appearances:\u00a0<\/strong>2026 will be Algeria\u2019s fifth World Cup. Algeria has won the Africa Cup of Nations twice, in 1990 and 2019.
\nBest World Cup finish:<\/strong>\u00a0Round of 16 in 2014 (lost against Germany in extra time 2-1).
\nBay Area game:<\/strong> June 22 vs. Jordan, 8 p.m.<\/p>\n

Australia<\/h3>\n

FIFA ranking:<\/strong> 27
\nELO ranking:<\/strong> 27
\nCoach:<\/strong> Tony Popovic (Australia)
\nWorld Cup appearances:\u00a0<\/strong>This is their seventh, qualifying for each tournament since 2006.
\nBest World Cup finish:\u00a0<\/strong>Round of 16 (2006, 2022)
\nBay Area game:<\/strong> June 25 vs. Paraguay, 7 p.m. (PT)<\/p>\n

Austria<\/h3>\n

FIFA ranking:<\/strong> 23
\nELO ranking:<\/strong> 23
\nCoach:<\/strong> Ralf Rangnick (Germany)
\nWorld Cup appearances:<\/strong>\u00a0Austria has played in eight World Cups, but has not qualified since 1998 in France.
\nBest World Cup finish:<\/strong>\u00a0Third place (1954)
\nBay Area game:<\/strong> June 16 vs. Jordan, 9 p.m.<\/p>\n

Jordan<\/h3>\n

FIFA ranking:<\/strong> 63
\nELO ranking:<\/strong> 63
\nCoach:<\/strong> Jamal Sellami (Morocco)
\nWorld Cup appearances:\u00a0<\/strong>2026 will be Jordan\u2019s first World Cup appearance. Jordan hasn\u2019t won any important tournaments, but reached the finals of the Asian Cup in 2023 (lost 3-1 to Qatar).
\nBest World Cup finish:\u00a0<\/strong>This is their first World Cup, ever.
\nBay Area games:<\/strong> June 16 vs. Austria, 9 p.m.; June 22 vs. Algeria, 8 p.m.<\/p>\n

Read more As San Jose wrestles with budget deficits, residents have one last chance to weigh in. Here\u2019s what to know.<\/a><\/p>\n

Paraguay<\/h3>\n

FIFA ranking:<\/strong> 41
\nELO ranking:<\/strong> 40
\nCoach:<\/strong> Gustavo Alfaro (Argentina)
\nWorld Cup appearances:\u00a0<\/strong>This is their ninth, but first since 2010. They are two-time Copa America winners.
\nBest World Cup finish:<\/strong>\u00a0Quarterfinals in 2010.
\nBay Area games:<\/strong> June 19 vs. Turkey, 8 p.m.; June 25 vs. Australia, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

Qatar<\/h3>\n

FIFA ranking:<\/strong> 55
\nELO ranking:<\/strong> 55
\nCoach:<\/strong> Julen Lopetegui (Spain)
\nWorld Cup appearances:<\/strong>\u00a0This is their second; the first was an automatic spot as the host nation in 2022.
\nBest World Cup finish:<\/strong>\u00a032nd, in 2022 (out of 32 teams)
\nBay Area game:<\/strong> June 13 vs. Switzerland, noon<\/p>\n

Switzerland<\/h3>\n

FIFA ranking:<\/strong> 19
\nELO ranking:<\/strong> 19
\nCoach:<\/strong> Murat Yakin (Switzerland)
\nWorld Cup appearances (including 2026):<\/strong>\u00a0This will be Switzerland\u2019s 13th appearance and sixth in a row.
\nBest World Cup finish:\u00a0<\/strong>The Swiss reached the quarterfinals in 1934, 1938 and 1954.
\nBay Area game:<\/strong> June 13 vs. Qatar, noon<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Turkey<\/h3>\n

FIFA ranking:<\/strong> 22
\nELO ranking:<\/strong> 13
\nCoach:<\/strong> Vincenzo Montella (Italy)
\nWorld Cup appearances:<\/strong> This is their third appearance, and first since 2002.
\nBest World Cup finish:<\/strong> In their only World Cup between 1954 and 2026, Turkey finished third, losing 1-0 to Brazil in a semifinal.
\nBay Area game:<\/strong> June 19 vs. Paraguay, 8 p.m.<\/p>\n

Read more 17 new officers graduate from Oakland police academy<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Five of the world’s top 30 teams by FIFA ranking will be playing at Levi’s Stadium over the next three weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nA snapshot of the Bay Area’s 8 World Cup teams - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1338\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A snapshot of the Bay Area’s 8 World Cup teams - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Five of the world's top 30 teams by FIFA ranking will be playing at Levi's Stadium over the next three weeks.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1338\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-06T13:36:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1338#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1338\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"A snapshot of the Bay Area’s 8 World Cup teams\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-06T13:36:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1338\"},\"wordCount\":469,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1338#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/39ff1d6f1b1d3c79a67ae6d46b5ddf12.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1338#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1338\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1338\",\"name\":\"A snapshot of the Bay Area’s 8 World Cup teams - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1338#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1338#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/39ff1d6f1b1d3c79a67ae6d46b5ddf12.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-06T13:36:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1338#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1338\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1338#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/39ff1d6f1b1d3c79a67ae6d46b5ddf12.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/39ff1d6f1b1d3c79a67ae6d46b5ddf12.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1338#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A snapshot of the Bay Area’s 8 World Cup teams\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A snapshot of the Bay Area’s 8 World Cup teams - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1338","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A snapshot of the Bay Area’s 8 World Cup teams - Next City Digest","og_description":"Five of the world's top 30 teams by FIFA ranking will be playing at Levi's Stadium over the next three weeks.","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1338","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-06-06T13:36:34+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1338#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1338"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"A snapshot of the Bay Area’s 8 World Cup teams","datePublished":"2026-06-06T13:36:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1338"},"wordCount":469,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1338#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/39ff1d6f1b1d3c79a67ae6d46b5ddf12.webp","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1338#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1338","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1338","name":"A snapshot of the Bay Area’s 8 World Cup teams - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1338#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1338#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/39ff1d6f1b1d3c79a67ae6d46b5ddf12.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-06T13:36:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1338#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1338"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1338#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/39ff1d6f1b1d3c79a67ae6d46b5ddf12.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/39ff1d6f1b1d3c79a67ae6d46b5ddf12.webp","width":1024,"height":682},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1338#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A snapshot of the Bay Area’s 8 World Cup teams"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}