2026 WC USA (et al): Worldwide Opponents Watch [all R's]

Indeed.

I loved the Euros in Germany recently. At that event they didn't play all of the games in the biggest venues possible. Yes, they played in Berlin, Munich, Dortmund. There were some venues on the smaller side. Red Bull Arena in Leipzig holds 40k. Not 80k. Some of the games in the smaller venues just had incredible atmosphere.

The smallest US based stadia for WC26 are Gilette in Boston and Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Both ~65k. Both of those stadia are roughly the size of the 2nd largest stadium (in terms of attendance) at Euro 24. Allianz Arena in Munich holds 66k.

We're not getting that atmosphere at Jerry World in Dallas that they got at Euro 24 games. The noise all kinds of fades into a buzz of nothingness there.

 

There is far more atmosphere at Selhurst Park (25000ish capacity) than there is at Old Trafford (75000ish capacity), West Ham fans are always bemoaning the fact that the atmosphere at the London Stadium (capacity 60000ish) is rubbish compared to their previous home Upton Park (capacity around 30000).

 

Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I do not believe that Sofi is actually climate controlled at all. It just benefits from being in West LA, which is usually a very nice climate. It’s open on all four corners so usually there is a breeze.

I went to week one of the NFL season last year (Chargers v Raiders) and it was like 110° that weekend in Los Angeles and it was the most miserable experience I’ve ever had at a sporting event and not just because I’m a Raiders fan.

 

That's correct it's not climate controlled. A lot of complaints about muggy conditions when the weather isn't ideal.

 

My memory having spent my whole life on the West Coast, in the bay until I moved up to the Sierra's in my 30's was/is that basically it can get nasty in July/August, but it's rarely all that bad in June. Any LA people around can contradict me on that part? Admittedly I wasn't a SoCal, so it's always cooler up in the bay (other than the San Jose oven effect in July/August)

 

Average high temperature in Inglewood is 73 in June, 77 in July. Like anywhere in California there is always the chance of a heatwave that's much above that.

 

Particularly for some of the games with teams with smaller fanbases and less interest from neutrals.

 

Yes though sometimes the rules are set so it’s pre decided before the vote. Like for 2034 where Saudi Arabia was the only one who ended up even officially bidding.

 

You are correct. Climate at SoFi is very very unlikely to be an issue. I just wanted to correct a previous poster who assumed it was climate controlled which is the same assumption I had approaching that 110 degree cauldron in the first week of September 2024.

the final at 3pm in NJ in July on the other hand…

 

it’s a huge outdoor stadium with great sight lines and a bland personality. Saw the US lose to Panama in extra time at NL in March - our worst loss in the Poch era. The stadium was 1/2 empty - We did stay for the doubleheader and watched Mexico’s dos a cero win over Canada, whose goalie looks like he got pulled out of a bar and were listless. The evening crowd was packed and noisier.

 

The Bay Area tends to be hottest in late August-October, but in any case, apart from during the 1-4 heat waves per summer/early fall, the temps in around the Bay are perennially high 60s-low 80s with very low humidity except for the fog cover, and the South Bay gets very little of that. It will most likely be 76-82 and sunny with low humidity in the afternoon on game day at Levi's, and that happens often enough that you can call it 6 months in advance with a degree of confidence. The summer is the most stable time of the year in the Bay Area, weather-wise.

Ask the Earthquake fans. Avaya Stadium, which is only about 6 miles away from Levi's, is one of the most pleasant places in the country to watch a game in terms of weather, and the stadium design with the big open bar and its open standing area around that, and the luxury suites being built at field level with their little sun decks on the touchlines deliberately make the most of that fact.

Levi's feels a little bit less "friendly" than Avaya, but it, too, to a lesser extent was rather built to take advantage of the relatively stable, dependable, generally sunny fall weather.

 

Indeed 48 teams means that Levi's will host Jordan vs Algeria.

You could totally have held that at Avaya, and it would've been a great atmosphere there, and an excellent, full-sized pitch. Particularly with the big open bar (and I'm very aware of the irony....).

 

I've once been to Levi's once (Quakes-Orlando in I think 2015, mightve been 14) and I distinctly remember being hot in the stands not so much because of the actual temperature which was probably in the 80s but because of direct sun exposure

Should be OK in June/July but Santa Clara isn't SF

 

The stadium is brutal in the sun because of the asymmetrical design putting the majority of seats on the east side facing the setting sun with absolutely no cover. The only shade is on the single level of premium seats on the west side in the shadow of the big press box/suite tower.

There is one noon game which will be the worst for this situation. I remember going there to see the Earthquakes play Manchester United in a friendly, probably at 1 pm in July. It might not have been hotter than 75F but it was miserable baking in the sun.

The other group stage matches are 7 pm or later and should be OK. For the 5 pm R32 match, most fans will be staring at the sun.

 

I know Santa Clara isn't SF. San Francisco rarely reaches 80, though at Oracle you can feel hot in the bleachers from being in direct sun the whole day. I'm from the Bay Area even though I live in New York.

The fans in the stands will be hot in the sun, but the players aren't in the direct sun, mostly.

 

I just looked at the game times, which actually surprise me as many are clearly not aimed at a European audience unless there's a European team involved. Most of Levi's games will be at night, except that one noontime game, and the R32 game, which won't affect the players, but it will totally affect the majority of the fans in direct sun for pretty much the whole game.

In 1994, remember that almost all of the games were between around noon and three to accomodate European viewing. I guess that FIFA doesn't want the game temps to be that hot, but ironically that will negatively affect the European sides on the pitch who are traditionally the worst-affected by the heat.

 

Agree, but unless you've got some really big bribes there, I don't think FIFA will agree.

 

Sure we know FIFA won’t do this but it would be a better outcome but for their corruption.

 

Countries don't vote. Federations vote, and specifically, I suspect Federation presidents have a huge amount of weight in those decisions.

It's not always money; sometimes it's personal, or political, or it's trading favors -- CONMEBOL largely voted for the United bid in part to get support for 2030.

Eleven countries in CAF voted against Morocco. Why? Well, our bid was probably overall "better" but it very well could have simply been some dislike of Morocco. All of the Americas voted for the United bid ... except Brazil, who thought it was private and I have no idea why they broke ranks.

In short, it's not so simply, especially since the decision rights are in a very small number of people with a long history of corruption.

 

The June gloom is a thing, as you know, but Santa Clara is fairly protected from the ocean and is on the swamp end of the Bay, so it is much warmer and sunnier in June.

Still, our summer is September-November, and yes, there's almost always a week of deathly hot in July or August. June is much preferred for cooler temps.

You can make a fortune selling sweatshirts to tourists who think California is all sunshine in June.

 

It looks like South Africa and its neighbors voted foe the North American bid...could be that a) they're nowhere near Morocco (Africa is enormous) and have nothing in common culturally with Morocco and b) they may have felt SA could be in line to host again in the next decade or 2 and a WC in Morocco would be an obstacle to that.

 

Agreed, I lived in the bay area (Alameda, San Mateo, and Berkeley) from 1974-2004, and visited my brother when he lived in San Jose (1995-1998)....It always felt like perfection (Pacific Ocean 20 minutes away, Big City 30 minutes away, could climb up a small coastal mountain overlooking the bay a mile or so from where I grew up in San Mateo, Skiing and Snowboard 3.5 hours away, and temperatures, as you say, nearly always in the high 60's to low 80s with no humidity (San Jose gets rough in terms of heat in later july and much of August because its locked in, and if you're near the mouth of the bay in winter, you can get cold, frigid winds blowing in, but it's still 30s/40s at worst, not like up here in the sierra's/reno area, where it can get as low as single digits, and even - degrees periodically, and as hot as 105 in the summer.

 

And they'll have what, 1 game in July, when its not that hot to begin with. The only places likely to be cooler in temp than the bay area are what, Seattle and Vancouver? Especially adjusting for how humidity can feel in terms of temp.

It will be pretty darn nice in the bay, Santa Clara's kind of on the what, Southwestern Edge of the Bay, so it does get hotter than most of the bay, but that's relative, and pretty much everywhere else in the WC will be significantly less comfortable (other than closed roofs, and you still have to walk around in the misery outside the stadium in those situations which won't exist in the South Bay. Just checked, Santa Clara gets 1 game in July, and its on July 1st, 5pm. It will be quite blissful.

 

Interestingly, so did the southern coast of West Africa.

 

Most heatwaves are later, but nothing is certain. Santa Clara had a high of 91 on May 30 this year and 88 on June 28. Those are not happy temperatures in the completely sun-exposed stadium. At the 2024 Copa America, July 2, 6 pm, Brazil-Colombia had a kickoff temperature of 98F. The last World Cup game will be July 1 at 5 pm.