The Bay Area will now be in on the action for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles with the announcement that PayPal Park in San Jose will host some early-round soccer matches for both the men and women.
The organizers of the 2028 Summer Olympics have selected PayPal Park as a host stadium for soccer matches.
Stadiums across the country were chosen to host games for both the men's and the women's tournaments.
While the Bay Area is focused on football in the present, the world is setting its sights on fútbol in the future - and it's not just the World Cup this year.
International soccer will return to the South Bay in 2028 when San Jose's PayPal Park hosts soccer for the LA28 Summer Olympics.
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"We're the soccer capital of the country - there is no if, ands or butts," San Jose Sports Authority Exec. Director John Poch said. "We have proven, if you look at the players on the U.S. Women's National Team that have come through San Jose in the Bay Area, I mean, where the hotbed. We're the center for soccer in the USA."
San Jose along with New York, Columbus, Nashville, St. Louis, San Diego and, of course, Los Angeles, will host matches for both men's and women's soccer.
PayPal has hosted multiple international friendly games in the past and players have been greeted with an incredible fanbase.
In just a few months, Japan will play the U.S. Women's National Team on April 11 in the South Bay as well.
Olympic matches were played at Stanford Stadium in 1984, but never in San Jose.
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"We have an incredible venue for obviously for the San Jose Earthquakes, for Bay FC, but also for international soccer," San Jose Earthquakes COO Jed Mettee said. "We hosted the Gold Cup last summer with Concacaf and showed through three or four matches that we have an amazing fan base here from countries from all over the world. So, we think it's going to be an amazing celebration in 2028."
Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara will host six games for the FIFA World Cup this Summer, part of a major sports year in 2026.
When the calendar switches to 2028, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan says the city intends to take full advantage once again.
"We always look to these events to have a legacy component, to have some lasting impact in terms of infrastructure and upgrades, youth programing and sports," Mahan said. "We want to make sure that we include the whole community in this."
"The schedule for both the women's and men's tournaments will be announced before April, but we'll learn which teams will be here in 2028 at a later date.
Category: General Sports
