In less than two weeks, the Bay Area will serve as a premier stage for one of the largest global sporting events. As men’s soccer teams arrive, the local women’s team is … pressing pause?

The National Women’s Soccer League is taking a monthlong break through June as North America hosts the 2026 FIFA World Cup, leaving Bay FC (3-6-2) idle until July 5.

The NWSL announced earlier this year that it would adjust its calendar to accommodate the men’s World Cup, citing stadium demands across the league. Seven of the league’s 16 markets are hosting World Cup-related activities this summer, though just one NWSL venue, the Seattle Reign’s Lumen Field is hosting matches.

“The NWSL is proactively adjusting its scheduling framework to accommodate expected stadium demands,” the league said in a statement. This came after commissioner Jessica Berman made efforts to keep the NWSL in play through the marquee men’s tournament. 

Levi’s Stadium, temporarily renamed as San Francisco Bay Area Stadium due to FIFA regulations, will host six World Cup matches — five group stage contests from June 13-25, plus a round-of-32 knockout match July 1. The scheduled slate features the Qatar, Switzerland, Austria, Jordan, Algeria, and Australia teams. The United States could play in the Bay Area if it finishes atop Group D.

Bay FC’s shared stadium PayPal Park, also home to the San Jose Earthquakes, is not a World Cup site. But the event’s footprint extends beyond the home of the 49ers — Paraguay will train at San Jose State University, where Bay FC currently practices, while Australia will set up camp at the Oakland Soul and Oakland Roots training facility in Alameda. Across the U.S., a variety of events are consuming fields, facilities, security, and stadium resources. 

“It’s the logistics,” said Bay FC season-ticket holder Pam Farmer, who drives down from San Francisco for every home match. “You’ve got a men’s team, a women’s team, and now the World Cup, and so something’s going to have to give.”

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Farmer said the pause feels manageable because Bay FC packed plenty of its home schedule into the spring — and because the Golden State Valkyries play a packed June slate at Chase Center before going on the road for the majority of July. But Farmer, who also holds Valkyries’ season tickets, compared Bay FC’s reality to the WNBA team’s displacement from Chase Center for the 2025 playoffs due to the Laver Cup tennis tournament: purely logistical, yet still a slight.

The interruption is hardly unprecedented in American sports. Pro leagues break regularly for international competitions — MLS is taking two months away from May 25 to July 26 for the World Cup and the NHL stopped play for the Winter Olympics in February. The WNBA breaks during the Olympics and will pause again for three weeks in September for the FIBA Women’s World Cup. 

What’s different this time is that the NWSL stoppage isn’t to accommodate opportunities for its own players or competitions. 

The NWSL halted play for the 2024 Olympics, when the U.S. women won their fifth gold medal in Paris, and again last July for various major international women’s competitions, including the UEFA Women’s Euros. 

For some supporters, NWSL players being pushed to the sidelines and watching from afar as the men’s tournament takes place is disappointing.

“It’s just a bummer because you get out of rhythm even as a fan,” Bev Benson, a Bay FC season-ticket holder, said. “I imagine it’s probably even worse for the players.”

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Bay FC will take at least a couple weeks of the break off before resuming training in the second half of June. The franchise, in its third season, must use the layoff wisely as first-year head coach Emma Coates is looking to turn around a club that sits in 13th place in a 16-team league. 

The U.S. women’s national team will play two friendlies on June 6 and 9 in Brazil during this window, and Bay FC star midfielder Claire Hutton will participate.

Despite the interruption, Bay FC is embracing the opportunity to have the sport’s largest tournament in its backyard. Coates said the club hopes to capitalize on the excitement generated by the men’s World Cup’s presence in Northern California and the potential impact on the next generation of players — just as the women’s World Cups routinely bring a wave of interest in girls youth soccer participation.

“I’m super excited for it to be here, and putting Bay on the map with the international football that’s going to happen here, the connection to the game, and the legacy that goes with that,” Coates said. “I know how inspiring that can be to young fans and I think football can connect people in a way that other things can’t.” 

The NWSL is also leaning into the moment, launching a “Summer of Soccer” campaign designed to keep fans engaged during the break and connect the domestic women’s game with the surge of attention. 

Until the women return to the field, there will be plenty of quality soccer in the Bay Area. Whether there will be more afterward depends on how Bay FC and the San Jose Earthquakes emerge after a long break.

An earlier version of this story misstated the number of NWSL venues hosting men’s World Cup matches.