The World Cup is coming! The World Cup is coming!
Just in case you had forgotten, the Bay Area Host Committee made a tour of the region on Tuesday, raising flags and trying to drum up fan excitement with 30 days to go before FIFA World Cup games start.
San Jose Earthquakes President Jared Shawlee, who was at the flag ceremony at San Jose City Hall, said he wouldn’t stop smiling for the next month.
“Fans from across the globe are going to fill our streets, our restaurants, our hotels and our public spaces,” Shawlee said. “Different countries, different languages, different cultures all connected through the game of soccer. We want this tournament to feel accessible and exciting for our entire community here in the Bay Area and Northern California.”
San Jose Vice Mayor Pam Foley, center, raises her fist behind a FIFA World Cup 26 flag after gathering for a group photo during a flag-raising ceremony at the Janet Gray Hayes Rotunda at City Hall in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan speaks during a flag-raising ceremony for the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the Janet Gray Hayes Rotunda at City Hall in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
Former U.S. Women’s National Team player and Bay FC co-founder Leslie Osborne speaks during a flag-raising ceremony for the 2026 FIFA World Cup outside the Santa Clara County Government Center in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
Santa Clara County Supervisor Sylvia Arenas, second from right, raiese a FIFA World Cup flag during a flag-raising ceremony Tuesday, May 12, 2026, outside the Santa Clara County Government Center in San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
A FIFA World Cup 26 flag waves in the wind Tuesday, May 12, 2026, during a flag-raising ceremony outside the Santa Clara County Government Center in San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
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San Jose Vice Mayor Pam Foley, center, raises her fist behind a FIFA World Cup 26 flag after gathering for a group photo during a flag-raising ceremony at the Janet Gray Hayes Rotunda at City Hall in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
The Earthquakes — who can boast being the oldest soccer club in the United States at 52 — are putting some green behind the effort, too, sponsoring 39 days of free World Cup watch parties at San Pedro Square. Fans can also get into the spirit starting May 29, when a massive version of the adidas Trionda match ball will be installed there, too.
Banners were raised in Santa Clara, Redwood City, San Francisco and Oakland, as well as in front of the Santa Clara County government center in San Jose. Ironically, there was a ceremony at Janet Gray Hayes Rotunda at San Jose City Hall, but the FIFA World Cup flag wasn’t hoisted on one of the flagpoles in the plaza because there was already another flag-raising taking place.
The games at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara — or San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, as FIFA calls it — start June 13 with Qatar v. Switzerland, followed over the next month by games involving Austria, Jordan, Turkey, Paraguay, Algeria and Australia. You can check the schedule of fan events taking place in San Jose at www.sj26.org.
CLASS OF ’94: America Scores, a nonprofit that provides youth development through soccer and poetry, grew out of the excitement around the 1994 World Cup, which was held in the United States. So it was perfect for its fundraising gala last Friday night in San Jose to feature a reunion of the expectation-shattering U.S. Men’s National Team from that year.
Members of the 1994 U.S. men’s national soccer team pose on stage at the Signia by Hilton hotel in downtown San Jose during a fundraising gala for America Scores on Friday, May 8, 2026. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
The audience — which included Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor, Santa Clara City Manager Jovan Grogan, San Jose Sports Authority CEO John Poch and San Jose Earthquakes legend Easy Perez — got to mingle at the Signia by Hilton hotel with members of the 1994 team including Alexi Lalas, Eric Wynalda, Cobi Jones, Thomas Dooley, Joe Max Moore, Marcelo Balboa and Mike Burns.
The blasts from the past didn’t end there, with remarks by Alan Rothenberg, who was president of U.S. Soccer during the 1990s, and 1999 Women’s World Cup legend Brandi Chastain, who is now one of the owners of Bay FC.
“We are a soccer nation,” Chastain said. “We always have been, I’ve believed this from the beginning. We’re not men’s soccer, we’re not women’s soccer. We’re soccer.”
SCHOOL SPIRIT: Bellarmine College Prep welcomed back some commendation-carrying alums at Bell-A-Palooza, the community celebration held Saturday in honor of the San Jose Jesuit school’s 175th anniversary. San Jose City Councilmembers George Casey and Michael Mulcahy presented a commendation from San Jose to Bellarmine President Chis Meyercord, while State Sen. Dave Cortese brought a California Senate resolution.
Bellarmine College Prep alumni, from left, San Jose Councilmember George Casey, State Sen. Dave Cortese, U.S. Rep. Sam Liccardo and San Jose Councilmember Michael Mulcahy wait together before presenting commendations at Bell-A-Palooza, a celebration of the school’s 175th anniversary on Saturday, May 9, 2026. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
Not to be outdone, U.S. Rep. Sam Liccardo brought a framed copy of the comments about Bellarmine’s history that he — along with colleagues Rep. Zoe Lofgren and Rep. Ro Khanna — had entered into the Congressional Record. “You all look great and not a day over 120,” Liccardo joked to the crowd, who spent the day enjoying a scavenger hunt, food trucks, carnival games and music by the Bent Peter Band.
Community members, alumni and students strolled the Bellarmine College Prep campus for Bell-A-Palooza, a celebration of the San Jose Jesuit school’s 175th anniversary, held Saturday, May 9, 2026. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
Just as notable were the appearances of two longtime Bellarmine teachers and administrators, Fr. Richard Cobb and Fr. Gerald Wade. The retired priests drew an even bigger crowd of admirers than the politicians.