Live Updates: Bay Area tailgate parties start as US preps for big World Cup game
Team USA has advanced to the knockout round of the FIFA World Cup for the second tournament in a row, and the squad by star midfielder Christian Pulisic is looking to prove itself tonight.
The U.S. men are playing Bosnia and Herzegovina at 5 p.m. at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, marking the San Francisco 49ers home stadium’s closing match for the World Cup.
After a group stage loss last week against already-eliminated Turkey, the home team is looking to redeem itself and head into the Round of 16 next Monday, where it would play the winner of this afternoon’s match between Belgium and Senegal.
This World Cup’s Round of 32 has already seen unprecedented results, with major upsets by Paraguay against Germany and Morocco against the Netherlands on Monday. On Tuesday evening, Mexico defeated Ecuador 2-0 in its first knockout round match.
Can the U.S. make it through? Keep up here with this evening’s pivotal match — and fan celebrations in Northern California as one of the biggest sporting events in state history plays out in the Golden State.
Here’s where things stood as of 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.
US fan and his dog travel North America
Hundreds of fans gathered at the Blue Lot Tailgate Party eagerly anticipating the start of the U.S. vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina game.
The parking lot boomed with early 2000s punk rock including Jimmy Eat World, Green Day and Bowling For Soup. Fans lined up around food tents waiting to purchase hot dogs, hamburgers and beer.
Near one of the speakers, Dan Nicholson wore an American flag hat, pants and cape while handing out stickers and American flag pins to children greeting his companion Willow, a happy white and brown dog dressed in an American bow tie, hat carrying a plush bald eagle.
Dan Nicholson said he and Willow, originally from Washington, D.C., have been traveling up and down North America for the World Cup. Over the past few weeks, Dan Nicholson has traveled to Mexico, Dallas and Seattle, to cheer on his favorite teams.
Nicholson said Willow is happy to be with other fans who are more than happy to give her attention and pets.
“Some people have their dogs at home and they miss their dog and she gives them a little free therapy,” Nicholson said. “Everybody wins.”
Tailgating and pregame parties begin
A half-mile away from the entrance of Levi’s Stadium and about four hours before game time, fans repping red, white and blue were buzzing with excitement at the Hilton Santa Clara tailgate party.
Among them are Jeremy Tollas, Chris Snyder and Jason Luttrell. The trio stand out among other USA fans for their extraordinarily patriotic costumes.
Luttrell is sporting a red white and blue spiky wig with an American flag draped over his shoulders like a cape, Snyder is dressed as an American revolutionary along with a powdered wig and Tollas is dressed as a skeleton Uncle Sam with a large, patriotic hat.
The three childhood friends, originally from Michigan, flew from Michigan, Las Vegas and Austin, Texas, for their first World Cup game. Fans have gathered around them to take photos and compliment them on their costumes.
“We’ve been planning this for a couple months,” Luttrell said. “We bought the tickets, hoping USA would win the group. They won the group, obviously, so it worked out perfect.”
Across the tailgate party, Amir Skenderovic donned his country’s blue and yellow proudly. Skenderovic said he flew in Tuesday to proudly cheer for his home team of Bosnia and Herzegovina with about 300 other fans.
Skenderovic said he is thankful to the U.S. for being so welcoming and hosting the World Cup. And though he wishes for his home country to win, he is thankful for the opportunity to be part of the World Cup.
“If (Bosina) get defeated, we’re gonna say thanks to them and enjoy the rest of the World Cup and the journey with them.”
Belgium-Senegal gets underway
Belgium and Senegal began their Round of 32 contest at 1 p.m. in Seattle, playing at Lumen Field in Seattle.
The winner of that game will face the victor between U.S. and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 16. That matchup will also be played in Seattle, at 5 p.m. Monday.
Fans board train to Santa Clara
At the Sacramento Valley Amtrak station, red-white-and-blue-clad soccer fans were headed to Santa Clara on the Capitol Corridor train around 11:30 a.m., which drops riders off right across the street from Levi’s Stadium.
USA fan Christian Bond got tickets for Wednesday’s game in Santa Clara before he even knew the team would make it through, and he said he’s “stoked” to be attending.
“I was sitting through the Turkey-Paraguay game knowing that if Paraguay got a result, it was the U.S.’s game,” Bond said. “I was in a section of Turkey fans and trying to hide my excitement.”
Bond chose to take the train to the game to avoid parking woes and getting too tired while driving back in traffic.
“I get super, super nervous whenever the U.S. plays, so I’ve got myself now in the mentality of: I’m at the game, I’m just going to enjoy the game, root for us, hope we win.”
The Capitol Corridor’s 11:53 a.m. and 12:53 p.m. scheduled departures from Sacramento were the rail service’s trains to accommodate fans heading to Santa Clara for the game.
There was no shortage of U.S. fans at the train station Wednesday morning who chose the alternative to driving for convenience.
The McLaughlin family took Wednesday morning’s train to attend their first-ever World Cup match in person.
“We’ve taken the train for the Niners game before, it’s pretty easy, and it’s kind of a nice train ride, actually,” Matt McLaughlin said.
Mark and Jenna Polhemus took the train because they wanted an easy way to get home to their young children after the game without having to book a hotel in the city.
The pair got their tickets to the U.S. match in an early FIFA lottery, meaning they had no idea the home team would be playing.
“That’s the best part, it was a big surprise,” Jenna Polhemus said. “We’re gonna kick a--.”
Matchup preview
The U.S. clinched its spot as the Group D winner before taking the pitch for its third and final group-stage game against Turkey, with a 4-1 win over Paraguay in Southern California and a 2-0 win over Australia in Seattle.
This evening’s elimination game could be one of the biggest sporting events in the region’s history.
Which is saying something.
Months after the same stadium hosted its second Super Bowl, with the Golden State Warriors being part of the NBA Finals six times since 2015 and with the San Francisco Giants winning three World Series from 2010 to 2014, there’s a chance Wednesday’s World Cup match could rise to that level.
The U.S. men’s team hasn’t reached the final eight of the world’s biggest sporting event since 1930, when they finished third.
Ticket prices
The least expensive tickets for Wednesday’s game earlier this week were listed for more $1,500 apiece on ticket resale website StubHub, with premium and exclusive lounge seats ranging from $5,000 to $20,000. Suites available for rent cost upwards of $200,000.
Ticket rounds for the first five World Cup games at Levi’s Stadium, all of which were part of the group stage of the tournament, sold for far cheaper, in roughly the $200 to $400 range per ticket.
The discrepancy is likely due to the demand by fans to see Team USA play in a high-stakes, elimination game, whereas the earlier games in the group stage matches produced few big-name teams with popular stars playing in Santa Clara.
How and where to watch
The U.S.-Bosnia and Herzegovina game will be broadcast live on Fox and via the Fox One streaming app with English commentary, and on Telemundo and Universo in Spanish. NBC’s Peacock streaming app also carries the Spanish-language broadcasts via Telemundo and Universo.
YouTube TV’s base plan and streaming service Fubo also carry all World Cup games.
Many Sacramento-area bars, restaurants and other businesses will also be playing the World Cup broadcast.
The Bee’s Emma Hall, Michael McGough and Don Sweeney contributed to this story.
This story was originally published July 1, 2026 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Live Updates: Bay Area tailgate parties start as US preps for big World Cup game."
.jpg)
