The Bay Area is preparing for a global sports moment. And local officials want visitors to treat it as more than a one-day stadium stop.
With FIFA World Cup 2026 matches set for Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, tourism groups across San Francisco and the wider region are pitching the event as a gateway to a longer Northern California trip. The message is simple: fans may come for soccer, but the region hopes they stay for the city, the coast, wine country, and the redwoods.
A World Cup host with a regional pitch
FIFA announced the 2026 match schedule on Feb. 4, 2024, confirming that Levi’s Stadium will host six matches during the expanded 48-team tournament. The venue, home of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, is one of 16 host stadiums across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The Bay Area’s matches are scheduled for June and July 2026, placing the region in the middle of one of the biggest sporting events ever staged in North America.
The broader tournament opens on June 11, 2026, in Mexico City and concludes with the final on July 19, 2026, in the New York metropolitan area. FIFA has said the 2026 edition will include 104 matches, up from 64 in the previous format. That larger scale is a major reason local tourism and transit agencies are planning years in advance, especially in regions where stadiums are not located in the main urban core…