{"id":386428,"date":"2026-07-04T22:59:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T22:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/386428\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T22:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T22:59:10","slug":"san-jose-moves-mexico-england-watch-parties-from-san-pedro-quickly-sells-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/386428\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jose moves Mexico-England watch parties from San Pedro, quickly sells out"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) — San Jose is expanding its FIFA World Cup<\/a> watch party locations after crowds at San Pedro Square far exceeded expectations during the tournament.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, fans will be able to watch matches at either SAP Center or Discovery Meadow in downtown San Jose. The new locations will host watch parties for the Mexico-England matchup, while Discovery Meadow also will host the Brazil-Norway game.<\/p>\n

City leaders originally estimated that about 350,000 people would attend watch parties throughout the tournament. Instead, nearly 500,000 fans have already gathered at San Pedro Square, with more than two weeks remaining in the event.<\/p>\n

“There’s been just an electric atmosphere. We have also for some of the more popular matches, particularly for Team Mexico, which is beloved, we’ve had crowds that have just far exceeded the capacity of San Pedro,” Mayor Matt Mahan said.<\/p>\n

World Cup 2026 live updates: Balogun avoids additional suspension, set to miss Belgium clash<\/a><\/p>\n

The move comes after particularly large crowds attended Mexico’s first knockout-round match against Ecuador.<\/p>\n

More than 40,000 fans gathered for the watch party. Authorities reported some fights, police eventually declared an unlawful assembly and a stabbing occurred nearby.<\/p>\n

City leaders described those incidents as isolated, but said the growing crowds have outpaced the capacity of San Pedro Square. As a result, watch parties scheduled for July 5 are being moved to SAP Center and Discovery Meadow.<\/p>\n

“These two separate venues allow, like the mayor said, two separate types of events. You have an outdoor event where we can put people here, and then you have an indoor event. And as the crowd size is separate, it makes it easier as the event ends and we get people back out on their way without everybody congregating in one mass area,” SJPD Asst. Chief Ali Miri said.<\/p>\n

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Attendance at Discovery Meadow will be capped at 10,000 people for the Mexico-England and Brazil-Norway matches. SAP Center will accommodate up to 14,000 fans for the Mexico match.<\/p>\n

The city also plans to host other watch parties in addition to viewing opportunities at local bars and restaurants.<\/p>\n

“We have a lot of Hispanics and Mexican Americans that are in San Jose. And I think it’s great to have somewhere for family-friendly events and and kid friendly,” San Jose’s DeeDee Perez said.<\/p>\n

Business owners in San Pedro Square said the expanded venues will benefit both fans and local establishments.<\/p>\n

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“I think that Mexico fans are going to enjoy a giant venue with room to breathe and move and enjoy the match,” Old Wagon Saloon & Grill Owner Sonny Walters said.<\/p>\n

When asked whether the change would hurt business in San Pedro Square, Walters replied, “No, we’ll be full.”<\/p>\n

Tickets for the new watch party locations sold out within minutes of becoming available. However, city officials said other free viewing options will be available throughout San Jose for Sunday’s matches.<\/p>\n

All other World Cup watch parties before and after Sunday will remain at San Pedro Square.<\/p>\n

\"Now<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) — San Jose is expanding its FIFA World Cup watch party locations after crowds…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[155839,88,90,89],"class_list":["post-386428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-155839","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386428","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=386428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}