FIFA World Cup 26: Bay Area soccer fans excitedly cheer on 2026 tournament draw

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — On Friday, a ceremony unveiled which teams would be coming to Levi’s Stadium for the World Cup this summer.

The tournament draw took place in Washington, D.C., and 48 teams participated.

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Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney joined President Donald Trump at the event.

Chase Center’s Thrive City hosted a watch party for Bay Area soccer fans to watch the festivities.

WATCH: Fans gather at Thrive City to watch FIFA World Cup tournament draw

Fans got to Thrive City early to be some of the first in line to snag a seat and watch the draw from the big screen. ABC7 was there when the first 150 fans came to Thrive City and got their free FIFA World Cup 26 SF Bay Area bucket hat.

The VIP Party was inside SPLASH at Thrive City. Sports legends, like Brandi Chastain, Leslie Osbourne, Hunter Pence, Festus Ezeli and more, were all in attendance and were later joined by Mayor Daniel Lurie.

“I am thrilled that we will be, once again, not only the gracious host, that we always are when people come to our city and our communities, but we will show them how much this game means to us by the way we show up and cheer and support,” Chastain said.

There was lots of excitement at Thrive City throughout the morning, and it was not the only Bay Area watch party.

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There were also parties for people to watch the draw at PayPal Park in San Jose and at the Athletic Club in Oakland.

We now know the official groups for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and that means we have a better idea for which teams will be playing here at Levi’s.

Groups B, D and J are guaranteed to have matches here. Those groups include teams like Argentina, Australia Switzerland and even Team USA.

Meanwhile, national pride was on display in the Bay Area from Thrive City in San Francisco, to the Epicenter at PayPal Park in San Jose.

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Bay Area soccer fans excitedly watched as the official groups were drawn for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

“The draw for Mexico, I think it was amazing,” El Cerrito resident Francisco Alvarado said. “I think it gives us a good chance to go to the next round.”

“I think the U.S. has a great chance to make it past the first round and possibly even to win the group,” said San Carlos resident Ulf Dreschke. “And as far as I understand it, if the U.S. wins the group, they’ll get to have the first knockout game here in the Bay Area at Levi’s Stadium.”

We do know that coming to Levi’s Stadium next Summer will be matches featuring Group B, Qatar versus Switzerland, and Group D, Australia versus Paraguay.

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Other teams may include combinations from Group J: Argentina, Austria, Jordan and Algeria.

The knockout round features the winner of group D — maybe Team USA — against a team from one of five other groups.

“I don’t care who’s playing,” said Milpitas resident Chris Perez. “I’m there for the environment, for the stadium and just for the experience, to be honest.”

The finalized schedule will come out on Saturday Dec. 5.

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But the excitement for the first Bay Area World Cup in more than 30 years is already very much alive.

“I think the atmosphere is going to be very joyful,” Alvarado said. “I think for people, especially casual fans, to come out even without a ticket, go to the fan fest, meet people from different parts of the world and hear different languages and different accents. I think it’s going to just be a very jubilant event.”

The quest to hoist the World Cup trophy and be the best in the world runs through Santa Clara and the Bay Area.