Thanks to the World Cup, Santa Clara County has become a valley of nations.
As this week’s Metro hits the streets, the United States Men’s National Team is set to take on Bosnia on July 1st at Levi’s Stadium, in the first round of the knock-out stages for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. After five celebratory group-stage matches between various countries, the USA-Bosnia game will be the sixth and final game at Levi’s. The rest of the tournament will be elsewhere.
The local joy has been infectious. Scene after scene emerged.
Thousands of Jordanians partied in the San Jose Convention Center for related events. They filled the streets of downtown San Jose and the parking lots at Levi’s. The Royal Family of Jordan attended their country’s first ever World Cup matches, both of which were in Santa Clara, so Mayor Lisa Gillmor and Congressman Sam Liccardo met them on the tarmac. Fans back home in Jordan watched the games, including a gathering of 14,000 who watched in an ancient Roman amphitheater.
Every Bay Area news station showed up for the watch parties in San Pedro Square. The Arabic version of BBC interviewed Jordanian and Algerian fans. Official FIFA cameramen followed Krazy George around everywhere. Fans draped Mexican flags, Japanese flags, Scottish flags and Egyptian flags from the parking garage as they watched the games.
When Jordan battled Algeria at Levi’s for a sold-out crowd, the brotherhood was palpable. Not all of the 68,000 were bona fide fans of the teams, but at least two-thirds were. To see that many Arabs in an American stadium, all cheering for their countries—and for each other, really—exemplified the humanity of the World Cup. It was almost tear-jerking to witness, proving for the zillionth time that football was indeed the universal language. I heard no derogatory comments anywhere. No one could possibly ruin the party.
The moments went on and on. While locals in San Pedro Square watched Messi’s five goals in two games, putting him over the all-time World Cup scoring record, a few hundred million others celebrated around the world. All while Instragrammers analyzed tactics far better than anyone on Fox Sports.
And speaking of Fox Sports, the coverage was less embarrassing than the last two World Cups, but there was plenty to ridicule. Several media outlets, especially the Guardian in London, were yet again fed up with the “trollish hyperventilating garbage” coming from commentator Alexi Lalas. Fox can’t get rid of him because they honestly think American sports fans want to watch trollish hyperventilating garbage. (For the most part, that’s true.) Scream-head TV analysts exist to manufacture outrage because they want everyone to be argumentative and miserable. That’s what American sports commentary is often about.
The World Cup is the opposite. It brings every country together. It’s the closest we ever get to world peace. Fortunately, most American soccer fans are worldly people. Over the last 20 years, they have grown far beyond the scream-heads on American sports television.
The enjoyment was on full display at Levi’s by the time any working press arrived for any of the games. Reporters who rarely paid any attention to soccer were now filming from all over the parking lot. In the press box, an entire row of Turkish media threw objectivity out the window and cheered for their country, which hadn’t been to the World Cup in 24 years. Same with the Algerian and Jordanian press.
For Metro’s “Best Of” issue, the Mexican fans will win “Best Street Party in San Jose History.” At least 20,000 of them filled the San Pedro Square area for each group-stage game. There were horns. Drums. Music and dancing. No other fans came close. Since San Jose is still a boring-as-hell place in which to grow up, younger people comprised much of the crowd, those who never previously found an opportunity to gather, flaunt their stuff and peacefully celebrate Mexico with that volume of people at once.
If these events don’t make San Jose politicos understand that we need a real pedestrian neighborhood—not just one block—then I don’t know what will ever convince them. San Jose is an international city and it will only get more international. It deserves a worldly vibe.
