{"id":1521,"date":"2026-06-08T12:40:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T12:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1521"},"modified":"2026-06-08T12:40:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T12:40:21","slug":"inman-world-cup-fever-should-hit-bay-area-despite-lackluster-draws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1521","title":{"rendered":"Inman: World Cup fever should hit Bay Area despite lackluster draws"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>SANTA CLARA \u2014 You may find yourself soon sitting in one of Levi\u2019s Stadium\u2019s red seats, mesmerized by the unmatchable aura of the World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1519\">Bay Area events calendar for June 12-18 weekly editions<\/a><\/p>\n<p>You may not know much, if anything, about the teams or players on the manicured pitch. And you may dig it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:\u00a0A snapshot of the Bay Area\u2019s 8 World Cup teams<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A few rows back could be a fan in a Philadelphia Phillies cap loudly taunting a guy in a Brazil jersey sitting a few seats ahead of you, while Japanese fans flank your left and more strangers are passionately cheering to your right.<\/p>\n<p>Such was the melting-pot experience that engulfed me in 1994, when the World Cup last came to the Bay Area and I spontaneously scalped a seat at Stanford Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>Still dazed by my first and only Grateful Dead show at Shoreline the previous night, my endorphins raced with patriotic pride as I rooted on the ultimate home team \u2014 in the United States\u2019 1-0 loss to Brazil on the Fourth of July.<\/p>\n<p>What a surprising treat, counting as one of 84,147 fans.<\/p>\n<p>Now the World Cup is back. If you host it, will they come? Ticketing and pricing snafus invite skepticism. It could be up to soccer purists and the Bay Area\u2019s big-game hunters (see: frontrunners for major events) to save the day \u2014 or the late night with those 9 p.m. kickoffs.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Team USA could make its encore 32 years later to play another knockout-stage game here in the Bay Area, 13 miles down Embarcadero to Highway 101\/237 to Great America Parkway.<\/p>\n<p>That idyllic return would not be until July 1, when the Group D winner takes on another group\u2019s third-place finisher at \u201cSan Francisco Bay Area Stadium,\u201d as it has been unbranded by FIFA.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. will have to override Group D co-tenants Australia, Paraguay and Turkey. Those three countries will play Bay Area group-stage games while the U.S. is reserved for two engagements in Los Angeles (Inglewood\u2019s SoFi Stadium, June 12 and 25) sandwiched around a Seattle show on June 19.<\/p>\n<p>From Sam\u2019s Army to the American Outlaws, the evolution of U.S. Soccer fandom shouldn\u2019t be complicated. Nor should rooting for others. Just watch the ball crisply pass from insole to insole, then await a corner\/free\/penalty kick that might deliver a goal and appease Americans\u2019 offense-centric mind.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>This is a global enterprise that will attract fans of all backgrounds. It is the WORLD Cup.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve been in Europe when past versions have unfolded and captivated nations, where cities essentially shut down until the game\u2019s end.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1517\">FIFA\u2019s biggest World Cup may leave host cities with big regrets<\/a><\/p>\n<p>And I\u2019ve been in America \u2013 on the soccer beat as a Bay Area reporter \u2014 when the women\u2019s version made for a blissful 1999 summer romance.<\/p>\n<p>Five years after the U.S. men lost to Brazil at Stanford Stadium, the script flipped at Stanford Stadium on Independence Day 1999. The U.S. women, headlined by Mia Hamm, claimed a 2-0 semifinal win over Brazil. Then it was onto Pasadena\u2019s Rose Bowl, where 90,000-plus (including then-President Bill Clinton) saw San Jose\u2019s own Brandi Chastain punctuate a shootout triumph over China for the cup.<\/p>\n<p>I consider it the greatest combination of clutch teamwork, high-profile event (much more than a \u201csoccer mom caravan\u201d) and successful outcome (U.S. over China) that I\u2019ve covered in over 30 years with this news organization.<\/p>\n<p>Twenty years later, a family vacation through southern France detoured to a pair of Women\u2019s World Cup games, neither of which involved the U.S. We were handed free tickets outside the gate of Montpellier\u2019s modest stadium to watch Cameroon edge New Zealand 2-1. Two days later, we boarded buses on Nice\u2019s shoreline, settled in with over 45,000 fans at Allianz Riviera and saw our adopted Australia team eliminated in penalty kicks against Norway.<\/p>\n<p>This month, drama will unfold, regardless of the teams or their anonymity among the Levi\u2019s Stadium fans, who will range from soccer-craving supporters to big-event influencers selfishly looking to expand their brand (like FIFA).<\/p>\n<p>None of the five group-stage matchups at SFBAS (San Francisco Bay Area Stadium) is going to attract rabid fans the way, say, Messi did last May in his sold-out visit to the San Jose Earthquakes.<\/p>\n<p>June 13: Qatar vs. Switzerland, noon<\/p>\n<p>June 16: Austria vs. Jordan, 9 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>June 19: Turkey vs. Paraguay, 9 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>June 22: Jordan vs. Algeria, 8 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>June 25: Paraguay vs. Australia, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>None of those countries has won a World Cup. That\u2019s not worth agonizing over anymore. Take a cue from the NCAA\u2019s March Madness frenzy and prepare for, supposedly, the greatest show on Earth.<\/p>\n<p>Enjoy \u201cthe beautiful game.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Admire the artistry that comes with 11 players a side striving to best represent their country.<\/p>\n<p>Restrain your anger and disappointment over FIFA\u2019s corporate greed and unabashed ploy to capitalize on this every-four-year money grab.<\/p>\n<p>Settle into your seat, ideally after prices plunge, and watch strangers become friendly neighbors. We\u2019re all in this together. There\u2019s only one world \u2026 and one World Cup here this summer.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1515\">When evacuation fails, should wildfire communities have a backup refuge?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This month, drama will unfold, regardless of the teams or their anonymity among the Levi\u2019s Stadium fans, who will range from soccer-craving supporters to big-event influencers selfishly looking to expand their brand (like FIFA).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Inman: World Cup fever should hit Bay Area despite lackluster draws - 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