At this point no one can stop the energy and the national pride of the teams coming to visit Santa Clara. Seeing downtown San Jose packed and alive with watch parties is amazing; however, the lack-of-downtown Santa Clara is noticeable among the crowds of people. Sadly, Santa Clara is lacking too many of these community building events. When Team USA is hosting in Santa Clara July 1st, Santa Clara again loses out to neighboring cities. Fans from all over from Switzerland to Australia crowd the bars in downtown San Jose is a loss for the Mission City. Seeing fans driving around the Bay Area with Jordan or Turkey’s flags on their cars really shows how great it is to have the world visit the area which is already rich in diversity. You can probably find a person that lives in Silicon Valley from all nations and corners of the world.
The first match took place on June 13th between Qatar and Switzerland. The biggest issue was the scorching sun. Of course, one of the hottest days of the year thus far just happened to hit then, but this was to be expected, however many wanted a semi covered or fully covered stadium for that very reason back when stadium was first being proposed. Fans do not want to roast in the sun, however this has been done for ages with stadiums that are directly in the sun. Who can’t remember a sunburn at a late summer baseball game at candlestick or down at San Jose Municipal Stadium home of the San Jose Giants. The sun and heat was a challenge but that did not stop the energy that was brought to the stadium.
The Second Match on June 16th had Austria vs. Jordan saw a late 9:00pm kickoff time in the cool of night. Did any Mayors of the Northside complain about the noise for that game? The energy was matched if not more than the first game. The thrilling third match on June 19th saw a 6:00pm kickoff where Turkey took on Paraguay amid a beautiful sunset and nice breeze. The next match on June 25th is Paraguay vs. Australia before July 1st, Team USA hosting in the big round of 32 game.
The biggest issue facing this World Cup, and the Super Bowl back in February is not just nowhere to have big watch parties, the surrounding areas lack the amenities. As I mentioned in a prior letter to the editor about the death of the entertainment district, this seems like a tactic to inflict some sort of failure. If you jump to social media and you see the biggest complaint besides costs is what is there to do around the stadium. One visitor from Europe called the area “soulless” which relates to my last letter of the disappearing soul of our city. Councilmember Park recently at a council meeting described going to meet a person who attended the game and how they had to go out of town to grab food. Councilmember Park talked about the lack of amenities around the stadium and its. One can agree that the crowds and traffic to leave games would not be as bad if there was some sort of before or after game entertainment. However the reality is it feels intentional that no one wants anything out there to compliment the stadium let alone the dying Great America.
Callers of the public mentioned the lack of a completed Related Project that is just a giant empty dust bowl lot. An eyesore for the city where it is hosting the marquee events from Super Bowl to the World Cup. Imagine if the Related Project was finished, what a missed opportunity that is not being held to deliver. The public continues to notice the lack of this project and the lack of results.
This is a moment for the City of Santa Clara that will not be forgotten. To host many nations soccer teams and now to host Team USA is a big achievement right in our backyard. Wouldn’t it be great if Santa Clara is hosting one of the teams that wins it all like Stanford did with Brazil back in 1994? Hopefully that will be Team USA?
Yet with the great success of these games, we can also expect the politics of the World Cup to take shape though in the 2026 elections. Councilmember Hardy will go around town promoting it and taking lots of credit for bringing the World Cup and Super Bowl here in her bid to be the next Mayor while Kathy Watnabae, David Kertes and other Gillmor Machine City Council candidates will make sure the costs and “lack of transparency” be the key narratives in the race. Expect some big surprises revolving around these games in the 2026 elections.
Will there be fallout from Santa Clara hosting the World Cup games? Will the Bay Area Host Committee Cover all the costs? Will there be disputes that get heavy media attention? Will Gillmor go kicking and screaming all the way out of office about this? Will Santa Clara be clear of any financial burdens? We shall find out in the coming months and even years. To be continued as they say. Until then, enjoy the moment Santa Clara has where we are at the center of a world event. Welcome the world and the many nations that will play here to our city.
Roger Kint