It’s 12:51 p.m. on a Thursday, and Thrive City looks like the Warriors are about to host an NBA Finals game. 

Only the Warriors have long been eliminated, and the hundreds of fans outside Chase Center are wearing green instead of blue and gold. 

On the first day of the 2026 World Cup, a massive, Mexico-heavy crowd filled Thrive City for a watch party of Mexico’s group-stage matchup with South Africa. The World Cup comes around every four years, but the Bay Area hasn’t hosted games since 1994.

The region can feel the hype. 

“As a Bay Area native, it’s amazing,” said Gonzalo Martin, a 24-year-old mechanical engineering student at San Francisco State. “The Bay Area’s a melting pot. All the different diversity we have here, sports bring us together, for sure. And I think that should resonate with the rest of the country.” 

Martin wasn’t born yet the last time World Cup games were played in North America. As he and his sister supported Mexico, other fans at Thrive City posed for pictures with Chapulín, the affably clumsy Mexican superhero dressed in his patented red onesie. 

“I definitely feel a lot of pride and a lot of community here, being surrounded by other Mexicans,” said Martin, who was born and raised in San Francisco. 

Eyss Rawea, 27, also caught Mexico’s first match at Thrive City. He grew up playing soccer barefoot in Yemen, teaching himself the game. Now, after a semiprofessional career, he plays recreationally and coaches youth soccer in the Bay Area.

Rawea, who plans on attending Saturday’s Qatar-Switzerland match, has lived in San Francisco for five years. He hopes North America’s hosting of the tournament highlights what the United States has to offer. 

That match — Qatar vs. Switzerland, kicking off at noon Saturday — marks the first 2026 World Cup fixture to be played in the Bay Area, with games taking place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, rechristened “San Francisco Bay Area Stadium” in accordance with FIFA’s sponsorship rules. Five more matches are set to follow, with the region hosting six total games through July 1, a run that promises to keep the city humming — at least for soccer fans — into summer.

“We want to show the whole world how great America is,” Rawea said. “We want to show everybody in this world how [it is] here, and how nice it is. Because I believe the United States is the greatest country in the world.” 

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Watch parties, official and unofficial, are set to sweep the city for the next six weeks. South Korea supporters mobbed Kezar Pub on Thursday night, and the city organized several fan zones for Team USA’s tournament debut Friday night. 

This year’s World Cup is the biggest tournament ever, with a 48-team field competing over 104 total matches. Flags from every nation and more hang from the rafters at Mad Dog in the Fog on Haight Street. 

Cyril Hackett, who owns both Kezar Pub and Mad Dog in the Fog, said he had to hire extra staff at his establishments in anticipation of the games. He expects a sizable boost in business akin to February’s Super Bowl LX bump. 

“This is like the pinnacle for us,” Hackett said. “We’ve been looking forward to this for the last four years, knowing it was going to be here in the Bay Area and preparing for it.” 

Hackett anticipates the USA and England matches will bring the liveliest crowds. Friday night was no exception with the venue packed for USA’s opening game against Paraguay. Better still, the home side got off top a perfect start with a 4-1 win.

Mad Dog in the Fog is also California’s official FC Barcelona bar, so many Spanish fans are familiar with the pub. 

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“We want this to be a venue for people to come and watch not just for the World Cup, but hopefully events like this expose us to a lot of new people, a lot of new faces, a lot of new customers,” Hackett said. 

Arthur Yukhatov, a 33-year-old Ukraine native who moved to San Francisco from Portugal about a year ago, scored a ticket to see Turkey-Paraguay on June 19. It’ll be his first time at Levi’s Stadium — ahem, “San Francisco Bay Area Stadium (opens in new tab)” — and he paid a pretty penny for it. 

Yukhatov didn’t win initial ticket-drop lotteries, so he had to explore the secondary market. There, he shelled out $600 for a single seat. A couple years ago, in 2024, he paid about 150 euros (about $175) to attend a Eurocup match in Germany. 

The World Cup is different. The biggest tournament in the world’s biggest sport. Its biggest star, Lionel Messi, is defending his nation’s title. 

“This is going to be an incredible celebration of football,” Yukhatov said. “This is why I wanted to be a part of it, even for one game.” 

A celebration of football, and a celebration of the Bay Area. San Francisco’s marketing machine, revved into hyperdrive by Mayor Daniel Lurie, will get some more fodder this summer. The World Cup arrives on the heels of Santa Clara hosting Super Bowl LX in February and the 2025 NBA All-Star festivities. 

The city, once again, is on a global stage. It’s ready for it.