The Oakland Ballers independent professional baseball team will host a free World Cup watch party Friday at Raimondi Park.<\/p>\n
On Friday, 3,000 fans will gather at the ballpark of the Oakland Ballers and have a chance to cheer on the U.S. team as they face Paraguay in a group stage match.<\/p>\n
Doors to the stadium open at 5 p.m. and it is a sold-out event.<\/p>\n
The Oakland Ballers are playing against the Missoula PaddleHeads on Friday leaving the stadium available for the watch party at their home stadium.<\/p>\n
At a press conference Thursday morning, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee and Councilmember Carroll Fife talked about their excitement for the watch party as it represents an opportunity for Oakland residents to come together and celebrate the city\u2019s sports community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not only a sports event, it\u2019s a community event, it\u2019s part of our culture. It\u2019s part of what we believe in here in Oakland. We are a sports city,\u201d said\u00a0 Lee.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd this is a part of our effort to bring Oakland once again into the sports, but also it\u2019s about showcasing the best of Oakland,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Lee also noted that the Australian team is currently holding their practices in Alameda.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fife talked about the fighting spirit of Oaklanders and the city\u2019s continued commitment to the celebration of athletics.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/BCN-2026011-FIFAWATCH-01.jpg\")
District 3 Council Member, Carroll Fife, speaks to the media at Raimondi Park in Oakland Calif., on June 11, 2026. The Oakland Sports Group is sponsoring a watch party at the park scheduled for the USA vs Paraguay World Cup opener on Friday, June 12. (Lloyd B Davis\/Bay City News)<\/p>\n
\u201cOakland doesn\u2019t just watch greatness, we make it,\u201d said Fife. \u201cWhen we come together in West Oakland, around our FIFA activities, it\u2019s exactly the kind of community magic that I\u2019m talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Raimondi Park is one of the many locations around the region hosting watch parties.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is one of dozens of watch parties around the East Bay over the next six weeks. And I want to encourage everyone to get out of your house, go to your local restaurant, your favorite bar, and enjoy watching the games in community with our fellow Oaklanders, said Lindsay Barenz, president of the Oakland Roots and Oakland Soul men\u2019s and women\u2019s soccer teams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Oakland Ballers independent professional baseball team will host a free World Cup watch party Friday at Raimondi…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358266,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[389,30942,12735,143,6110,145,144,8450,43107,79126,67857,47118],"class_list":["post-358265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-alameda-county","tag-athletics","tag-carroll-fife","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-ballers","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-oakland-roots","tag-raimondi-park","tag-sports-events","tag-watch-parties","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}