{"id":379345,"date":"2026-06-29T15:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T15:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/379345\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T15:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T15:22:09","slug":"socceroos-fans-swap-football-for-cricket-as-australian-players-descend-on-oakland-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/379345\/","title":{"rendered":"Socceroos fans swap football for cricket as Australian players descend on Oakland | World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian cricketer Peter Siddle knows the United States well. The last few days, however, have been different.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve spent a lot of time in America and it\u2019s a place you tend to walk around and not have to worry about getting noticed at all, which is great,\u201d Siddle said. \u201cBut here at the moment, there are plenty of Aussies walking around that spot you a mile away.\u201d<\/p>\n

There has been a surge of Australians in San Francisco to watch the Socceroos at the World Cup<\/a>, and many are still staying in the Bay Area before they leave for the last-32 match in Dallas.<\/p>\n

Two days after Australia booked their place in the knockouts with a draw against Paraguay in Santa Clara, dozens dressed in yellow set out to watch a different sport at the Oakland Coliseum, less than an hour away.<\/p>\n

The ground was the set of Moneyball, the sport analytics-inspired movie starring Brad Pitt, before the local baseball team the Athletics moved to Las Vegas, via Sacramento. The Oakland Raiders also played at the arena before they, too, abandoned the Bay Area.<\/p>\n

The Major League Cricket roadshow stops in Oakland. Photograph: Jack Snape<\/p>\n

Socceroos fans did not attend the Oakland Coliseum looking for a history lesson, however. The came to see Washington Freedom \u2013 the Major League Cricket<\/a> (MLC) team coached by Ricky Ponting and captained by Steve Smith \u2013 defeat the Texas Super Kings by one wicket. After Washington lost three wickets in the final over, India-born Australian allrounder Nikhil Chaudhary hit the final ball for six to win.<\/p>\n

Siddle, who plays in MLC for the San Francisco Unicorns, himself joined the travelling masses, along with some teammates including rising Australian star Ollie Peake, to attend the Socceroos\u2019 match against Paraguay. \u201cTo be there \u2013 I don\u2019t know the number that were there, but it felt like there was 20-30,000 Socceroos fans just in that stadium, all in yellow \u2013 it was quite special to be a part of,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

There are few surprises in the eye-opening world of franchise cricket, where players\u2019 salaries are booming and the calendar is throwing tradition out the window. The sight of Australia\u2019s green and gold at the Oakland Coliseum, however, was new.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get lots of cheering, lots of whistles, and lots of flag waving,\u201d said MLC chief executive Johnny Grave. \u201cWe don\u2019t usually get football chanting. But the Aussies that were here certainly made themselves known, and were very vocal towards the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Steve Smith.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a crowd of a couple of thousand, the number of Australians was estimated to be more than 50. The four-year-old MLC had recognised the potential interest from the thousands of travelling Socceroos fans, and offered discounted tickets through the active support group.<\/p>\n

Cricket\u2019s growth in the US was aided by the 2024 men\u2019s T20 World Cup, and is expected to receive another boost from the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games which will play cricket at the MLC\u2019s new facility in Pomona.<\/p>\n

Peter Siddle takes a wicket for the San Francisco Unicorns. Photograph: Kelly Gavin\/San Francisco Unicorns<\/p>\n

Grave sees cricket\u2019s popularity following a similar path to football in the country, which grew after USA 1994 and the Women\u2019s World Cups in 1999 and 2003. \u201cI think cricket will follow those footsteps, I think it is going to be a long process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re obviously blessed by a fanatical South Asian diaspora, a pretty dedicated Caribbean diaspora as well as others that are moving into the States. We had a whole bunch of Nepali fans here yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Socceroos fans Jack and Joel attended the Oakland Coliseum for the match between the Unicorns and Washington on Sunday. They dressed in Australia shirts, but also bought Freedom merchandise.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe chose today specifically because of all the Aussies involved,\u201d Jack said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got [Marcus] Stoinis, Smith, [Mitchell] Owen, [Matt] Short, [Xavier] Bartlett, way too many others \u2013 half the players, and half the coaching staff. We saw Adam Voges and Ricky Ponting and we really just had to be here to experience it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Socceroos\u2019 qualification for the last 32 has prompted hundreds of fans to scramble for flights and accommodation to extend their stays in the US. as they hope to witness the team\u2019s first World Cup knockout win. Jack and Joel didn\u2019t have to make any last minute changes, though. They had already planned their roughly $10,000, four-week trip, and had booked accommodation in Dallas and the other potential locations the Socceroos might have played.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just sat in the stadium for a bit after the Paraguay game, and Jack literally cancelled all the Airbnbs we weren\u2019t going to use,\u201d Joel said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had about $9,000 come back on the credit card straight after full-time,\u201d Jack said. \u201cIt was the post-game ritual.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair were similarly well prepared for tickets. They were lucky in the ballots and diligently pursued tickets for potential Socceroos knockout matches, and have subsequently sold the ones they do not need for profit.<\/p>\n

Two hours before attending the cricket at a cost of US$40 (AU$58) each, Jack found a buyer for his seat to the USA v Bosnia and Herzegovina game for US$1,800 (AU$2,600). He bought it three months ago for US$700 (AU$1,000).<\/p>\n

\u201cThat funds like a week of travel,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the USA factor.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australian cricketer Peter Siddle knows the United States well. The last few days, however, have been different. \u201cI\u2019ve…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,145,144],"class_list":["post-379345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379345","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=379345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}