{"id":394278,"date":"2026-07-11T02:35:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T02:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/394278\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T02:35:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T02:35:17","slug":"sofi-stadium-is-one-of-the-biggest-stars-of-the-2026-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/394278\/","title":{"rendered":"SoFi Stadium is one of the biggest stars of the 2026 World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Erling Haaland and SoFi Stadium, ladies and gentlemen. Your breakout stars of the World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all fallen for the blond forward who has rowed Norway to its first World Cup quarterfinal berth \u2014 and also for SoFi Stadium<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Or \u201cLos Angeles Stadium,\u201d FIFA\u2019s designation for the $5.5-billion architectural masterpiece that welcomed the world to Inglewood.<\/p>\n

I cover Rams and Chargers games there regularly, but the World Cup changed how I feel about the place. It has more soul now, more character.<\/p>\n

There is more history attached, \u201ccore memories,\u201d as Kevin Demoff, president of parent company Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, put it.<\/p>\n

The exultation when the United States went up 1-0 in the seventh minute of its tournament-opening, 4-1 victory over Paraguay? \u201cThat\u2019s now a core memory of this stadium,\u201d Demoff said.<\/p>\n

So is the proud Iranian diaspora showing up en masse to mostly support Team Melli twice, in draws with New Zealand and Belgium.<\/p>\n

And the goal by LAFC\u2019s Stephen Eust\u00e1quio in the second minute of second-half stoppage time to lead Canada to a 1-0 victory over South Africa in its first knockout game.<\/p>\n

And Spain\u2019s taut, 2-1 victory over Belgium in Friday\u2019s high-stakes quarterfinals match.<\/p>\n

FIFA might say these sensational scenes put L.A. \u2014 our tiny hamlet of more than 18 million people \u2014 \u201con the map.\u201d<\/p>\n

What they did was put SoFi Stadium on everyone\u2019s radar as one of the world\u2019s foremost football stadiums.<\/p>\n

Jose Ovalle, a 34-year-old from Reynosa, Mexico, has watched matches at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City and Estadio BBVA in Monterey, both sites of World Cup action this summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re amazing stadiums \u2014 a lot of history, so much history,\u201d Ovalle said Friday. \u201cBut [SoFi Stadium] is one of the top stadiums in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Spain <\/p>\n

Spain midfielder Fabi\u00e1n Ruiz, left, celebrates after scoring past Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, right, in the World Cup quarterfinals at SoFi Stadium on Friday.<\/p>\n

(Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Nah, said New Zealand coach Darren Bazeley: \u201cThis is the best football stadium I\u2019ve ever been in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swiss center back Manuel Akanji plays for Inter Milan and roots for the Atlanta Falcons. It was a big deal for him to play at their home field, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, in last year\u2019s FIFA Club World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really nice, but this is the best,\u201d Akanji said after Switzerland defeated Bosnia-Herzegovina in group play at Sofi Stadium. \u201cThis is the best I\u2019ve seen overall among all the stadiums I\u2019ve ever been to. It\u2019s amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eight matches, five group stage games, two round-of-32 knockout affairs, Friday\u2019s quarterfinal and a partridge in a pear tree \u2014 it was a monthlong run that was everything SoFi Stadium\u2019s team could have wished for when it began preparing to host eight years ago. And more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think you can envision the passion of national team fans,\u201d Demoff said. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen so many great events here, NFL games, concerts, but the pride of a national event and seeing people come to Los Angeles and the U.S. for the first time, and seeing this building for the first time…<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something magical about 30,000 Bosnians in blue singing, marching from the airport to here. You can\u2019t properly envision that, no matter how many times you\u2019ve been here.\u201d<\/p>\n

People raved about sight lines and sound. They admired the architecture and the infinity screen and the way the canopy kept things cool. In line to buy merchandise Friday, Orange County\u2019s Nick Valencia looked around and mused: \u201cWow, humans made this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Players had the run of the place on real grass, not the artificial turf in place for NFL games. (Don\u2019t expect that to change, Demoff said, noting that upkeep would be doubly challenging at SoFi Stadium with two NFL teams using the field.)<\/p>\n

Soccer fans amplified their positive reviews online, where the only complaint having to do with SoFi Stadium was that FIFA decided to give the World Cup final to the archaic-by-comparison MetLife Stadium \u2014 aka \u201cNew York\/New Jersey Stadium\u201d \u2014 instead.<\/p>\n

The stadium popped in person and on TV, its distinctive, futuristic shape making it immediately recognizable in a way that not every stadium is.<\/p>\n

Vibes were good among volunteers and visitors from around the world and every corner of the United States \u2014 and among stadium staffers, who won raises in a late-breaking contract agreement that resulted in increases to more than $30 per hour.<\/p>\n

The Rams\u2019 house \u2014 and Chargers\u2019 \u2014 was full almost every match, with four sold-out crowds of 70,492 and an eight-game total of 561,656.<\/p>\n

People paid thousands of dollars for tickets and got their money\u2019s worth at the world\u2019s most-expensive stadium, a modern marvel that\u2019s only getting better with age.<\/p>\n

Dodger Stadium is dripping in lore, from Kirk Gibson\u2019s legendary walk-off home run in 1988 to more history, like Shohei Ohtani playing perhaps the greatest game ever last postseason.<\/p>\n

Staples \u2014 er, Crypto.com Arena \u2014 is where Kobe Bryant dropped 81. Decathlete Rafer Johnson lit the Olympic flame in 1984 at the Los Angeles Coliseum. And we all can picture Brandi Chastain ripping off her top in her iconic celebration after scoring the game-winning penalty kick in the 1999 Women\u2019s World Cup at the Rose Bowl.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe may not have the Brandi Chastain moment from \u201899,\u201d Demoff said. \u201cBut we\u2019ve had so many great moments off this tournament that I think will be replayed over and over and over again.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are more moments to come, with SoFi Stadium slated to host Super Bowl LXI in February and then, in 2028, to stage the Olympic Opening Ceremony and the Olympic swimming competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere the U.S. scored the opening goal,\u201d Demoff said, \u201cis going to be the middle of the Olympic swimming pool. I think that contrast blows people\u2019s minds. It certainly blows mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

And for the past month, Los Angeles\u2019 stadium blew the world\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Erling Haaland and SoFi Stadium, ladies and gentlemen. Your breakout stars of the World Cup. We\u2019ve all fallen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394279,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[61169,8862,2424,158513,158511,48,52,51,47,50,49,63,22169,2457,158512,54532,592,1410,5712,8934,5393],"class_list":["post-394278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-belgium","tag-fifa","tag-friday","tag-jose-ovalle","tag-kevin-demoff","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-match","tag-mexico","tag-more-history","tag-nfl-game","tag-people","tag-place","tag-sofi-stadium","tag-victory","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394278","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=394278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}