Mayor Karen Bass focused on Los Angeles’ role as the global stage for several major events in the next few years during her State of the City address Monday afternoon at one of the city’s most storied sports venues.

The mayor, who earlier announced a run for re-election, also touched on the city’s homelessness crisis and other challenges during her speech at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The World Cup and Women’s U.S. Open at Riviera Country Club in the Palisades are two headline sports events coming to Los Angeles this year. The Super Bowl will be back at Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium next year and the Olympics will make a third visit to Los Angeles in 2028.

Bass said in Monday’s address that Los Angeles will host free community celebrations in public parks in every council district for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The international soccer tournament begins on June 11, 2026 with Mexico playing the opener in Mexico City and co-hosts USA and Canada hosting their openers in Los Angeles — at SoFi Stadium — and Toronto a day later.

Eight World Cup games are set for SoFi Stadium in June and July .

“When the world looks at Los Angeles, they won’t just see venues,” Bass said. “They will see our values, the diversity of our people, the pride in our shared home, and all that our neighborhoods offer. Yes — the moment is big. Yes — the task is real. But we will be ready.”

Bass also announced a partnership with Angel City Football Club promoting youth sports. The soccer club is investing $3 million over a three-year period to serve more than 45,000 young athletes across the city.

The city’s Department of Recreation and Parks is planning Golf for Girls clinics at public golf courses across Los Angeles during the U.S. Women’s Open in June.

Bass said the city’s Clean Corridors Initiative will speed up efforts to improve several major city corridors, accelerating efforts like trash pickup, graffiti removal and landscaping ahead of major events that draw visitors from around the world. On Saturday, volunteers with Shine LA will be part of the cleanup at Hansen Dam Recreation Center in the San Fernando Valley. The location is the site of an official Los Angeles World Cup 26 Fan Zone.

Bass touted the city’s Inside Safe program with efforts to clear 120 homeless encampments and move encampment residents into temporary and permanents housing. She also said more than 42,000 affordable housing units are in the works.

NBCLA has not independently confirmed those numbers, yet.

“Ending street homelessness and housing all Angelenos is one of the defining challenges of our time — one decades in the making, worsened by policy failures, bureaucratic barriers, and rigid thinking that never built a system capable of meeting the scale of the need,” Bass said. “Since I became Mayor, we have moved with urgency. We broke down silos, challenged policies that kept people trapped on our streets, and began building a coordinated system with one clear goal: end street homelessness.”

The address is Bass’ final State of the City speech before voters decide in November whether she deserves another four-year term. The former State Assembly speaker faced criticism over the past year for, among other things, being out of town during the deadly Palisades Fire one year ago and a public spat with the city’s then-fire chief.

The trip to Africa, which came as forecasters warned of an anticipated Santa Ana windstorm described by firefighters as among the worst conditions they’ve ever seen, was a mistake, Bass later said.

Los Angeles mayors typically give their State of the City address in the spring to detail their priorities, tout accomplishments and discuss the release of the city’s budget for the next fiscal year.

The 2026 Los Angeles mayoral election will be June 2, just before the start of the World Cup, with a runoff in November if no candidate receives a majority vote.