The 2026 FIFA World Cup was supposed to be a home-turf celebration. Hosted jointly by the US, Canada, and Mexico, the tournament running from June 11 to July 19 had all the ingredients for a summer of communal joy. California, with its massive Mexican-American population, was primed to be one of the loudest rooms in the house.
Instead, officials are pulling the plug on public watch parties.
Venues across the San Francisco Bay Area and San Jose have canceled or dramatically restructured their public viewing events after a pattern of violence tied to fan celebrations, particularly following victories by Mexico’s national team.
What actually happened
The sequence of incidents started coming into focus around July 1, when a shooting outside Spark Social SF in Mission Bay left two people injured during celebrations tied to Mexico’s match results.
